Blue Fire in The Eyes of The Sky
by Rinienne
Summary: It has been a year since the end of the Reaper War. The life slowly returns to normal for everyone in the galaxy. Shepard's understanding of normal although might be slightly different from the one of other people. Secretly he misses the trill of the adventure, the battlefield, and the chance to save at least one more life. Well, as some people say, be careful what you wish for.
1. Chapter 1

Blue Fire in The Eyes of The Sky is planned as a novel size work and will consist of two parts: **The Lost Child** and **The Tides of Time**.

I would like to thank my wonderful beta Kunari for working with me on the novel and just being an awesome person.

* * *

**Prologue**

A gray-haired man dressed in a white lab coat walked into an enormous room in the very core of a hidden research facility. He looked up on a construction in the very middle of this room built from crescent metal bars wired together to form a circle approximately fifteen meters in diameter. Several large tubes connected to three support beams were glowing in a dim light, pumping element zero to the basis of the entire construction.

In the very middle of the mechanism was a naked asari, held in a mass effect stasis field, helpless. She raised her head to glare at the gray-haired man; her eyes were filled with pain and anguish, but there wasn't anything threatening in them. It was a look of a person begging for death. The man in the lab coat ignored her.

The TiDES was the proud name of the entire mechanism. Not everyone working on its construction knew the meaning of this abbreviation, but they didn't question it. The gray-haired man on the other hand, knew what the machine was supposed to do, he had been in the lead of its development from the very beginning, for four long years since the blueprints of the machine were discovered.

Today the final data for the project had been delivered, the enormous device was finally ready.

"Begin the testing," the man ordered tucking his hands into the pockets of his coat.

Several scientists around him started to fuss around, operating control panels on the other side of the room. The protective screens dropped around the TiDES, before the entire room seemed to come to life: the metal ring in the center started to spin effusing flashes of blue energy, and everything behind the protective screens lid up.

"The dark energy level is ten percent from the potential and rising," announced one of the assistants.

"The Gateway is opening; its current diameter is two millimeters. All systems are stable," supported the second assistant.

"Dark energy level is thirty percent and rising. The Gateway's size is eighteen millimeters. All systems are stable."

A red light suddenly started to blink on a panel next to the gray-haired man, and an alarm sounded around the research facility. Every scientist hurried to power the TiDES down.

"The test subject stopped responding," one of the assistants explained.

The bright lights behind the protective screen went down, making it possible to see the other side of the room. What left of the asari, now a scorched skeleton, was smoking in the middle of the metal circle.

"Clean this mess," the man in the lab coat sighed, before turning around and leaving.

The room adjacent to the area the man exited from was smaller and brightly lit with several luminescent lamps built into the ceiling. It was nearly empty, except for several terminals and personal lockers next to one of its walls.

The man took off his lab coat, hanging it in a locker with a sigh. It was the third subject that died during the test runs. The two others they'd tested even before the last piece of data was received and none of them came even close to providing the mechanism with enough power. The gray-haired man was starting to lose hope.

"Nearly two centimeters?" a calm voice from the terminal asked. "Not exactly a result I was expecting."

"Sir," the gray-haired man turned towards the voice slightly startled. "I'm sorry, sir, the test subject was very weak, we couldn't expect anything better considering - " he tried to explain.

"I'm not judging you," the voice from the terminal interrupted him. "And don't worry, I will provide you with a subject powerful enough to open the Gateway."

"But, sir," the gray-haired man tried to reason, "is it even possible to find someone suitable for this?"

"I said, don't worry about it," the voice reassured calmly, like it always did. "Leave this matter to me."

**Book One**

**The Lost Child**

The Systems Alliance's headquarters looked busy, drowned in everyday routine of the largest military base on Earth. Dozens of officers and soldiers were hurrying to attend to their duties stopping only to pass a data-pad, or share a few words with a comrade, or an occasional salute to someone with a higher rank. In general everything looked exactly as Shepard remembered it one year ago, before the Reaper fleet arrived to Earth destroying everything it could reach.

But it was a year ago.

Now a lot of things had changed. The building, which had been nearly destroyed, now looked like the Reapers had never even touched it, and all the people around behaved like nothing had ever happened. Or at least they were really good at pretending.

Most of the soldiers didn't even recognize Shepard as he was passing by, trying not to pay much attention to the surroundings. Occasionally he was still catching a glimpse of utter surprise and fascination among the crowd as the recognition was settling into their minds. With the corner of his eyes he even spotted a young soldier staring at him with an open month as the 'Savior of the Galaxy', 'legendary Commander Shepard' crossed the hall of the first floor.

But most of the time people were choosing to ignore him, which to tell the truth was something Shepard was grateful for, because giving his autograph left and right and taking pictures with the admirers was the last thing he wanted right now.

There was a reception desk before the elevators leading to the higher floors. The receptionist was a young woman in her mid-twenties dressed in a standard alliance uniform who gifted Shepard with a soft smile. Shepard smiled back and attempted a quick maneuver to the elevators waiting the ID recognition system to scan him. The lock beeped and turned red.

"Excuse me, sir!" receptionist called out. "It's a restricted area, you need a special pass before entering."

"What?" Shepard surprised. "Since when?"

"Since half a year ago," receptionist sighed. "You're new in here, aren't you?"

"Well, you can say that," Shepard grinned. For some reason someone assuming him a newcomer seemed amusing for the ex-commander.

"First time in Vancouver?" receptionist smiled leaning forward over her desk and looking Shepard right in the eyes while activating the omni-tool on her wrist. It was very obvious that she was flirting.

"Nah, I live here," Shepard shook his head placing his elbow on the top side of the counter desk and resting his chin on his left hand so the girl could see the thin platinum band on his ring finger.

The message it seemed was received. The girl had never stopped to smile, but Shepard still could see a note of disappointment crossing her features as she focused on the readings from the omni-tool. Then she suddenly froze in place. "Oh my god…" she inhaled. It took her several long seconds before she managed to get a hold of herself standing up and saluting. "Excuse me, sir! You may proceed, sir! Admiral Hackett is waiting for you in the conference hall, sir!"

"Relax," Shepard sighed. "I resigned, don't even have a rank now for you to salute."

The receptionist seemed to relax a little. "I'm sorry, you're still a hero, no matter the rank. And..." She cast her eyes down smiling apologetically, "sorry about earlier."

"It's ok," the man nodded. "And thanks for the clearance!" he smiled before turning back to the elevators and making his way to one of the top floors where he had been invited by Admiral Hackett earlier this morning.

But Sheppard had never got a chance to reach to the conference hall as the admiral met him halfway in the corridor.

"Looking great, Shepard!" the admiral said. Shepard knew that the admiral was an honest person, but still suspected that any sort of compliments besides good field performance coming from him was more of a formality, even if the admiral really meant it. "You have no idea how good it is to see you finally on your own feet."

And it was good indeed. Shepard himself couldn't believe that he managed to recover after that explosion on the Citadel. He'd considered himself a goner, when he'd walked towards the catalyst's core discharging the magazine-clip of his gun into it. But yet, after everything went black, he somehow managed to open his eyes again, finding himself in a hospital bed with dozens of different pipes and wires attached to his body and a sleeping frame of Kaidan seated uncomfortably on a chair next to his bed.

All of the doctors at the time had been sure that he would never be able to even walk again, save the idea of returning to active duty. But somehow he managed to get better. So much better that in several months after the war he'd been already able to walk to the restrooms and back on his own, and a half a year after that, the only minor inconvenience left was an occasional pain in his joints and muscles. Nothing a hot shower, a couple of pills and a pair of strong hands massaging the kinks in his body couldn't help with.

"I was taken good care of," Shepard smiled. "I thank my husband for that."

"Well, look at you!" admiral nodded. "Went through hell and back, saved the galaxy and even had time to build a personal life. Hell of a multitasker, I'd say."

"I assume, discussing my life and well-being wasn't the reason you invited me?"

"No, it wasn't," Hackett agreed. They finally reached the office and the admiral invited Shepard in, gesturing to sit on one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Actually I've been planning to ask if you're interested in reinstatement. We have some… problems you could really help us deal with."

To tell the truth Shepard had been thinking about it a lot. At first he'd been thankful for the end of the war and had thought that he would finally settle down and live a normal life, even if he couldn't believe he would ever be able to function fully again. But he was wrong about it.

After over eight months of doing nothing but taking care of Shepard, Kaidan had returned to duty in the reserves working with the Alliance as the human biotic specialist, resuming his work with the biotic special division program. With Kaidan spending most of the day at work, Shepard found himself drowned in boredom, spending his time watching TV or playing video-games – something he'd never expected himself doing. Hell, he even started to cook dinners waiting for his lover to return from work.

With time the role of a house-wife started to piss him off to the point where he'd finally snapped, unleashing his frustration on Kaidan which led them to the first serious fight. The fight which made so stoic and self-controlled person like Kaidan lose his patience and leave the apartment slamming the door behind his back. Thankfully, Shepard realized what he'd done, starting to feel like an ass for nearly losing the man he loved so much. The understanding of how much he really cared about Kaidan and the fear of losing him hit Shepard after that fight, so the next day he went to the market district and purchased two platinum bands and had finally proposed to his lover.

The thoughts made Shepard reach for the ring, touching its warm smooth surface.

"Would it be something you will need to think about?" admiral asked snapping Shepard back to reality.

"Oh, no, sir!" Shepard shook his head. "It is something I've given some thought already. I would like to return to duty, sir."

"Good," Hackett acknowledged. "With your medical record there is no way of returning to work to hot spots of course, but your knowledge in some areas is exactly what we need right now."

"It's is an honor, sir," Shepard said standing from his chair to salute.

"The honor is all mine," admiral replied reaching for Shepard's hand to give it a good shake.

"So, what kind of problem are you facing?" the commander finally inquired.

The admiral looked Shepard in the eyes and sighed, then he reached for his terminal pressing a few buttons. A wall behind his back slid open revealing a big screen with several images across it.

"Several days ago our agents informed us of a contraband shipment delivered to Earth," admiral started to explain.

"Contraband? You wouldn't ask for my help if it was a simple case."

"No, we wouldn't," Hackett agreed. "Even while we still don't know what was in the container that arrived on Earth, there is something you might find important - the container was delivered from the Iera system, Shadow Sea."

Shepard blinked feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline at the recognition of the star system's name and the image of the system's chart on the screen. There was only one planet in Iera someone could smuggle something from. "Horizon…" he whispered.

"Yes, and that is not all," admiral continued. "We managed to track the container. We found the container, but it was empty."

Hacked pressed several more buttons and the image on the screen changed again. Now it was showing a plane white box the size of a refrigerator.

"There was an insignia on it," Hackett explained zooming on one of the corners of the container.

"This cannot be true!" Shepard said seeing the familiar hexagram shaped symbol. "Cerberus…"


	2. Chapter 2

It was an unusually warm and sunny day for the Vancouver's March. The surprisingly clean streets of the city center were filled with different people: mostly human, but occasionally Shepard could see a turian or an asari among them, which for the commander had started to look surprisingly natural.

It was unbelievable how good everything looked here. Sometimes it was still possible to see half ruined buildings further away, but the streets were clean, with neatly cut trees and bushes around sidewalks and boulevards, with every store working, every café and bar. It almost looked like the war had never accrued.

Shepard perfectly knew that it wasn't the case, he knew that the moment you would walk past the center to any of the city suburb, if you just dig deeper under this first impression of tranquility, you could find a lot of dirt, a lot of destroyed buildings, people still living on dry rations or in quickly build trailer-style cabins, waiting for their houses to be rebuild. It almost looked like someone tried to quickly clean up a mess in a room by putting everything under a bed or into a closet, so it looked clean, but if you were only to open this closet, you would be buried under the pile of crap hidden in it.

It also looked exactly like Shepard felt.

On outside Shepard seemed perfectly fine. Thanks to the modern medicine, he didn't even have many scars left on his face and body after the incident. But it only took Shepard five minutes of additional walk before his right knee suddenly started to feel like on fire. The commander took a deep breath and continued his way to a café, trying to not pay attention to the ache. In the end, Shepard thought, it was going to be something he would have to live with for the rest of his life.

The reason Shepard came here was to meet with Kaidan, who worked in a facility not too far away, and used to come for lunch breaks to one of the small restaurants, famous for having really good steaks.

The commander finally reached his destination, picking one of the tables in an open area outside the café. It was a nice place, somewhat quiet with a good view on a large square. The place itself reminded him of Apollo's on the Citadel, where he used to go with Kaidan back during the reaper invasion. The thought, even if it seemed ridiculous together with the 'reaper invasion' part, brought some warm memories and it somewhat dulled the pain in his knee.

The waitress, Jess, whom he'd known for several months, came to him with the menu, smiling warmly. "Hey, John," she greeted, "you're earlier than usual today."

"Yeah, had some things to take care of," Shepard nodded, "got free earlier."

"Want to order something or just a beer, while waiting for your husband?" She inquired.

"I'll go with beer, thanks," Shepard nodded.

"Alright, be right back with your order." She said and turned around returning to the indoor part of the establishment.

Jess didn't even ask what beer he wanted. He and Kaidan had been dining here so often that all of the people working in the café knew them, together with their preferences in food and drinks. Shepard also was certain that Jess knew who he was, knew who Kaidan was, but she'd never brought it up. For that, the commander was thankful. Of course he'd never refused to give an autograph when someone asked, but he'd always felt somewhat uncomfortable about it. He really preferred to be just a guy, just a soldier, who did his duty, even if this duty was to save the world.

Shepard sighed and extracted a data-pad from his bag, starting to read his new mission assignment for the third time. After a year of doing nothing but sitting on his ass, it felt somewhat surreal to return to work. Even more so, considering this work was connected to Cerberus, the organization he was sure vanished together with the Illusive Man.

_"Cerberus isn't just an organization, or the people behind it. Cerberus is an idea. That idea is not so easily destroyed,"_ he suddenly remembered the words the Illusive Man had said once. Did it mean that they were still alive and kicking, after all this time? And if they did, what possibly could they bring to Earth from Horizon?

The report was indicating a big fight over something in the container. Whatever happened there, led to deaths of five Cerberus agents, who most likely were killed with biotics. It either were some really well-organized thugs deciding to steal the cargo from Cerberus, or whatever it was in the cargo was alive and decided to go free.

Shepard started to rub his temples. One of his hands dug into his grown hair. It was still somewhat strange for him to have anything longer than several millimeters growing there. He thought about shaving it off again as he felt the most comfortable with the buzz cut, but then remembered how much Kaidan liked his hair this way. How he enjoyed holding onto it when they were making love.

The comfort of the buzz-cut was just another thing Shepard was ready to give up for his husband.

Shepard's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a small movement on the corner of his eyes. A normal man wouldn't have noticed something like that, but years of the military service where you had to be on your toes day and night, noticing every single detail off in the surroundings, every unusual sound even if you were asleep, as it was the only way to survive, paid off.

Instinctively he turned around getting a hold on something from the left side of him. This something turned out to be a small arm of a child not older than five or six years, dressed in a long shirt which at some point Shepard suspected was white, but now it was torn and dirty so it was really impossible to distinguish the color, and the same level of dirtiness pants. The child head was shaved no more than a week ago and now looked like the hairstyle Shepard used to have last year.

"Hey now, what were you trying to find in my pocket?" Shepard narrowed his eyebrows, trying to look angry while his heart felt like tearing from his chest by looking at this kid, who probably hadn't eaten in few days.

The child didn't reply, just stood there looking at the commander with unbelievably blue eyes, without a single note of fear or regret reading in them.

"All right then, I know you were trying to steal a cred-chit," Shepard sighed still holding the kid by the arm, "you know, you could've just asked. Are you hungry?"

The child's expression suddenly changed and now the kid's face looked so hopeful. The boy nodded.

"All right, climb on the chair, we'll figure some food." Shepard smiled.

The kid nodded again and carefully retrieved the hand from Shepard's grip, then climbed on a chair on the other side of the table keeping a watchful eye on the commander. Shepard meanwhile looked around, trying to find if there was anyone watching them. Anyone who could know the kid, but no-one seemed to pay attention.

"What's your name?" Shepard asked, but the kid simply continued to look at him without saying a word.

"Do you have parents? Home?" Commander tried again, but with no result.

Jess chose this moment to reappear from the main building with a bottle of beer. She gave Shepard a surprised look as she noticed the kid.

"I left you for only a few minutes and you've already found an orphan to protect!" She chuckled.

"Do you know him?" Shepard inquired.

"No," Jess shook her head. "It's the first time I see him."

"All right, I'll figure something out. Can you bring anything to eat for the kid meanwhile?"

"Sure," Jess smiled, "be here in a moment."

~ooo~

The nameless child was half-way through a rather large plate of chicken soup when Kaidan finally showed up. The biotic approached the table eyeing the kid with surprise before turning his attention to Shepard.

"Uh, John… anything I should know?" he asked tentatively, taking a seat beside his husband.

"Umm, besides the fact that not everyone is as lucky as we are?" Shepard asked.

For a moment Kaidan was silent looking at Shepard like he was trying to read his mind. For what Shepard knew, that was exactly what Kaidan was doing. Of course, not in a 'one of the special unknown to anyone else biotic power' way, but more of a 'I've known you for so long, that sometimes I don't need words to understand you' one. Then he turned his attention to the child.

"Hey, little girl, do you have a name?" Kaidan smiled.

"Ugh, a girl?" Shepard surprised.

"Well, yeah, can't you tell?" The older man chuckled. "So?" He tried to talk to the kid again.

But as it was expected, the child remained silent.

"We need to call the police or any public service responsible for this sort of things." Kaidan finally sighed as he opened his menu. "The girl is either ran from an orphanage or got lost and has someone looking for her right now."

Hearing it, the child suddenly climbed down from her chair and moved to Shepard, embracing the man in her small arms. For a moment Shepard remained stuck shocked before he finally moved his own arms to wrap them around the kid. Something turned in his belly upside down this moment, starting to bounce around. But whatever it was wasn't unpleasant.

Shepard looked at his husband who was now eyeing him with surprise. "Huh…" was the only thing Kaidan managed to pronounce.

"I think it means that I will have to find out if she's lost without the police part." Shepard sighed.

Kaidan placed his menu back on the table and nodded. "Uh, John, can I talk to you for a moment?" He inquired, then he turned to the girl and added. "Hey, little one, we are going to get you some ice cream. Just wait us here, all right?"

The girl nodded and returned back to her seat, watching Kaidan pulling his husband from the chair and tugging him to the corner of the café's outdoor yard.

"For the first time I have no idea what to say," the taller man sighed, crossing his arms on his chest, "or how to react."

"What? I will just need to call some orphanages and check the extranet if there anything about missing children," Shepard smiled, trying to encourage his husband. "I have half of a day free anyway."

"You can't just do it, John!" Kaidan whispered. "What if you won't have enough time today? What will we do with her then?"

Shepard looked into Kaidan's eyes as it had always helped him to understand his partner better. There were many emotions he could read in them and some that he couldn't. Kaidan in his turn seemed to be trying to do the same.

"John, it's not a hamster or a fish, it's a child! What you're suggesting is called kidnaping, and last time I checked it was illegal"

The biotic rubbed his face with his palm and swore quietly under his breath fidgeting his feet. To Shepard, it looked like his husband had a huge fight going on inside his own mind, but it was impossible to tell what were the sides of his mental argument. Most logical to Shepard seemed the assumption that it was the wish to trust his husband that occupied Kaidan's mind, but surprisingly he started to understand that he wished it to be something else. Even if he couldn't tell what exactly he wanted it to be.

"All right…" Kaidan finally nodded, "all right, try that. But we are calling somewhere… anywhere if you aren't able to find anything by the end of the evening. Because even if the kid doesn't have a family, we can't just bring her home… even for one night…"

"Ok," Shepard agreed. For some reason he started to feel somewhat angry at Kaidan even if everything the other man said sounded very reasonable. It felt like, whatever the reason, for this anger, it could turn into another fight and the weirdest part was that Shepard wasn't even sure exactly what was making him so angry.

"Now, let us finally eat, because I have only half an hour of my lunch break left. I've spent the whole morning running around the training facility with my students, blasting holographic husks, so I really need my calories back."


	3. Chapter 3

The scan of the extranet didn't give any results. Shepard had taken a picture of the little girl and launched a facial recognition program checking every missing person database he had access to, but found nothing. An hour and a third sundae later he started to contact every orphanage that existed in Vancouver, but none of those establishments had any of their children missing either.

At the end of the third hour, he had attracted an attention of a police officer, who started questioning him about his 'suspicious behavior'. It took another fifteen minutes to explain the situation. In the end, the officer advised Shepard to simply give up and send the girl to the closest orphanage and, if he still wanted to help to find her home, no-one could stop him from doing so afterwards.

Shepard was sitting on a bench in a small park watching the sunset and trying to figure what to do next. To his greatest disappointment, he started to realize that Kaidan was right, and that the police officer was right too. Shepard couldn't bring the kid home, because if there was a smallest chance someone would find out about it, he would be charged with kidnaping, which could lead to serious complications.

Plus, there was also the mission. Shepard had to head to the crime scene tomorrow morning and probably fly to Horizon afterwards. The thought of possibly flying anywhere seemed very exciting to the commander. He wasn't sure if he was ready to risk it yet.

Shepard glanced at the girl, who was sitting next to him on the bench. Her face was turned to the sun and eyes closed, as if she was enjoying the sensation of warmth on her face. Shepard also noticed that her skin was now covered in goosebumps and swore at the back of his mind for not thinking about the quickly dropping temperature sooner. He took off the black hoodie he was currently wearing and covered the girl's shoulders with it. The child opened her eyes and looked at the commander with surprise, but then snuggled into the hoodie with a content smile.

It was strange to watch her. Shepard knew that children at her age should already be talking, so maybe she had some sort of development problems. But at the same time, she was reacting to everything like an adult. Curious, fascinated, but adult. Even the moment he'd activated his omni-tool to scan the extranet, she tugged his arm closer to her face to take a closer look at the device, like she'd never seen it before, but instead of simply grabbing the glowing thing and starting to randomly press buttons, she gave it a thoughtful look.

She was… different.

"I'm sorry, I've tried everything," Shepard finally announced, "for today, I mean." He added catching her confused look. "I'll need to find you a place to sleep, and will try to do something more tomorrow, deal?"

The girl reminded silent.

Shepard sighed and activated his omni-tool again, trying to make a call. The audio transmitter in his ear beeped and only a moment later he heard a familiar voice answering his call.

"Hey, Shepard, it's great to hear from you," Liara greeted sounding tired, but happy at the same time.

"Finally, I've got a convenient excuse to call," the commander chuckled.

"Oh, now you need excuses to call a friend?"

Shepard spent good fifteen or even twenty minutes talking to her just about everything. Liara told him that she had nearly finished her book about prothean culture. Now it was easier with Javik's help. The commander was still surprised that Javik agreed on helping with it, but it was nice to know that the last prothean decided to stay with them longer, instead of joining his fallen comrades. He was even more surprised that now the both of them were attending to different archeological sites together, since most of the Mass Relays had been finally repaired. But never-the-less, most of Liara's work was still connected to the information market. Shepard wasn't even surprised when Liara told him that she'd already knew about his reinstatement.

Before they finally said their goodbyes, the commander asked her to check her own links and find out about any families with children arriving to Vancouver during the last several days. He also thought about asking her about Cerberus activities, but he was sure that it wasn't something he could discuss over a call, even if it was encrypted. Plus, Shepard was sure Liara would've contacted him herself if she knew anything.

Leaving the girl in the orphanage was difficult, but it was the proper thing to do. Shepard learned years ago, that the moral decisions rarely felt right at the time. Even this knowledge and his years of experience dealing with hard choices, didn't make it easier. When she understood what was going on, the young girl started to cry and cling to the commander.

Shepard knelt before the girl, placing his hand on her small shoulder, "I wish I could take you with me, but these people will take good care about you. I'll see you tomorrow," he promised.

~ooo~

When Shepard finally reached the door of his apartment, he felt empty and exhausted. The lights were on, so it meant Kaidan had already returned from work. For the first time this year, it was Shepard's turn to be home later than his husband and surprisingly the thought made him smirk.

The smell of cooked meat reaching his nostrils turned this smirk into a wide smile. Apparently, it was also Kaidan's turn to cook. At the image of the biotic standing in the kitchen wearing nothing but an apron, his dick gave a small twitch, demonstrating how much it appreciated the idea. Probably, it was something Shepard needed right now to get his mind off the events of the day.

Shepard found Kaidan exactly where he expected him to be – standing next to the stove and frying something on a pan. Unfortunately, his major wasn't wearing any aprons and wasn't naked, but wearing a simple old tee and a pair of sweats. He still looked damn amazing, with his broad shoulders and muscular back hidden little under the thin fabric of a form fitting shirt. Shepard's eyes slid further down and stopped on the curve of the biotic's ass taking a moment to appreciate the view.

"Are you going to just stand there, half-way between the corridor and the kitchen?" Kaidan asked not even turning his head.

Shepard took it as a sign and approached Kaidan, wrapping his arms around the other man's waist, letting his palm slid underneath Kaidan's shirt, resting against the flat muscles of his stomach. Shepard's lips pressed against Kaidan's neck starting to cover it with light kisses, which made the other man hiss.

"Could we perhaps have a dinner first?" Kaidan asked.

"Not that hungry…" Shepard admitted.

"Well, maybe you're not, but I am. You know, hungry biotics get grumpy."

"Yeah, I know," Shepard nodded, slightly startled at the biotic's cold tone. He moved away taking a seat on one of the chairs next to the dining table. "I'll eat some too, then," he said.

Kaidan turned the stove off and extracted two plates from the drawer placing them on the table, then he took the pan from the stove and started to dish the mix of meat and something green and ragout-looking to the plates.

"So," he started, "how was the meeting with Hackett?"

"Great actually; he reinstated me," Shepard replied.

"Well, congratulations," Kaidan nodded taking a seat on the opposite side of the table, starting to eat.

Several long minutes they ate in absolute silence, neither of them seemed to have any appetite. Shepard waited for Kaidan to say anything, but the biotic was silent, keeping his eyes on the plate.

Shepard could see that something was bothering the other man, but he didn't want to bring it up. The commander didn't want to start talking about problems, because he wasn't even sure what he could say that wouldn't make their already turning cold evening even worse.

"I asked him if he could pull you out from work for a couple of days, so you could join me on my assignment. I might need a biotic expertise there," Commander said instead.

"Let me guess, it was a 'no'," Kaidan smirked sarcastically. "Even if technically we've never breached the protocol by having a relationship, they are going to frown on a married couple in the same squad."

"Sort of," Shepard shook his head. "Hackett said he could pull some strings, if the mission will turn out to be more serious than it looks. So we might end up on a mission together anyway. If we will promise to behave." He added with a wink trying to lighten the mood.

It didn't really work, as the biotic ignored it. "Will see," he replied instead.

It was very quiet in the apartment. Somewhere out the window leading to one of the very few non-central streets rebuilt in the past four months, Shepard could hear a lonely ground car passing by and disappearing somewhere beyond the commander's ear-sight.

"I will need a biotic on the mission anyway," Shepard added after a moment. "Hackett told me to talk to you about it."  
"Yeah, I can send you one of my students," Kaidan nodded.

"Ok…" Shepard agreed.

"Ok…" Kaidan repeated. For the commander it looked like his husband wanted to say something else, but changed his mind.

The rest of the dinner they spent without saying a single word. Shepard couldn't say that the whole business related conversation had been warm, but at least they'd had something to talk about. From there on, it just became awkward.

Shepard waited to see if Kaidan was going to bring the topic of the child up, but he never did. Maybe it was for the best, but for some reasons, Shepard hoped he would do so.

After the dinner Kaidan silently took both of their dishes from the table placing them into the dishwasher. Shepard watched him not moving from his sitting spot.

When Kaidan moved closer to him, he never tore his eyes away from his husband. Kaidan took him by the hand and tugged him silently into the bedroom, never looked away as he started to undress him, slowly, nearly methodically. Neither did he look away, when Kaidan carefully pushed him onto the bed, covering his neck and his torso with kisses.

When Kaidan's nails dug into Shepard's hips, the commander shut his eyes, swallowing hard. He tried to concentrate on the sensations, on the feeling of Kaidan's skin under his fingertips, on the shift of his muscles under that skin and on the wet warmth of his tongue playing with Shepard's nipple. In the end, it was exactly what the commander needed right now, what he'd hoped for since he returned home.

Shepard didn't want to open his eyes. He was afraid that it would make him lose concentration, turning his attention away from what they were doing, so he continued to simply touch, smell and sense. He felt strong hands lifting his hips, and Kaidan pushing into him, slowly filling him with careful, steady thrusts.

Kaidan let out a grunt, but it was not one of pleasure. Shepard felt him retreating and opened his eyes giving his lover a questioning look.

"I… I can't," Kaidan shook his head. "Not when both our minds are somewhere else."

For a second Shepard wanted to argue, but then glanced down between their bodies, noticing his member laying limp on his stomach. "Shit," he groaned in annoyance. "I'm sorry…"

Kaidan shifted away moving towards his side of the bed. "No, that's all my fault," he admitted after a moment of silence.  
"Ok, right," Shepard nodded, "let's stop trying to find whose fault it is and just talk. Come on, spill it, what was the entire evening about?"

Kaidan turned his head and looked at Shepard, his eyes were filled with desperation. "John, what was I supposed to do seeing you with this child? Tell you, that it was fine, that we could take her home and raise her as our own? Even if it has been little bit less than an hour since you met her?" he asked.

"Whoa! Kaidan…" Shepard raised his eyebrow. "I've never even… considered this."

"Yeah, of course you didn't," Kaidan replied with a sigh of disbelieve, "It was only my imagination playing tricks with my mind when I saw you embracing her, your eyes starting to shine. For the rest of the day, my heart was doing these weird flip-flops as the image was popping back into my mind: you, me and a child. You know… I…" He stumbled, half way through the sentence rubbing the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

Shepard's eyes widened in surprise, as he realized what Kaidan was talking about. And here he thought, that it was him who did something wrong which pissed his husband off.

Of course he'd always knew that Kaidan was a romantic, even if he kept denying it, but Shepard had never actually thought about him wanting to raise a child together. He had never even thought about the possibility, especially with the fact they weren't asari who could reproduce without the second gender. "Kaidan, do you want us to... have a kid?" he asked, his voice was unexpectedly gentle.

"I don't know, John," Kaidan sighed, "I mean, when I was younger, I wanted it. You know would be nice to have someone who would bring you a glass of water when you won't be able to lift it with your biotics anymore," he chuckled, "but then... then I found you. Never expected to actually fall in love with a man. But I have never expected to survive the war either…"

"Hey," Shepard smiled reaching for his husband's face with his hand to pet Kaidan's cheek with his thumb, "if you want we can go back to the orphanage tomorrow. I asked Liara to check if she can find anything on the girl. And it's Liara, so by tomorrow she will probably find everything. And if the girl has no-one… I mean, we could…"

Kaidan started to chuckle nervously. "Heh, this is surreal," he admitted, "but yeah, we could. Can't see why not. And if Liara does find her parents, then I guess we could just be happy for the girl. And, well, think about... umm... alternatives."

Shepard's smile widened. Moving closer and wrapping his arms around Kaidan, he pressed his nose into the other man's neck, inhaling the smell of his skin.

"Although, you're an overgrown child yourself, you know?" Kaidan teased.

"Me?" Shepard faked a surprise. "I thought I was the living image of courage, heroism and valor," he laughed.

"Yeah, right," Kaidan laughed in response, snuggling closer to his husband. "Of course you are."


	4. Chapter 4

Even a year after the war, there had been times when Shepard had nightmares. Lately, they started to fade away and weren't as vivid as before. They also weren't visiting the commander every single night. It helped a lot to finally be able to share the bed with Kaidan after he'd been released from the hospital. Being close to the other man seemed to ease his restless dreams. But sometimes even the warm embrace of his lover wasn't enough.

_Shepard was standing in the middle of a field. Nothing was growing here, the land was abandoned and dry, like it hadn't seen any rain for years. It was cold and empty, not in a sense that nothing was here, but more on the emotional level. Shepard felt uncomfortable the most, because of the feeling of being alone, of being nowhere, without a single living soul around. He felt lonely._

_Shepard started to walk. He had no idea which way to go, but for some reason, something was pulling him away from this field. Like there was something wrong about the place and he had to leave. Something about this place was alarming him. His heart began to beat faster and faster with each step he made. Shepard of course wasn't a person who could be scared easily, but the feeling was overwhelming. It felt like death, and the most frightening was the fact that it wasn't his death, but someone else's, someone whom Shepard cared for, even if he wasn't sure who it was._

_The field behind him started to burn, enveloped in a surreal blue fire, which reminded more of a biotic energy. Shepard started to run, but something was stopping him, like he was thrown into water, which was slowing his every move. In a moment he also realized that there also wasn't enough air. Shepard started to choke, trying to fill his lungs, but couldn't get them to work._

_The blue fire started to catch up with him, started to envelop him all, making him shiver in cold, making the world around go dark and too bright at the same time. Somewhere closer to the horizon Shepard could see a blue moon starting to rise._

_"John… John!" He heard on the corner of his mind, the voice distant but familiar. "John, wake up!" The voice appeared again, this time closer._

Shepard jerked awake in his bed covered in cold sweat. The blue fire was gone, and the chilling sensation was now replaced by warmth of another body, hovering over him. Shepard blinked several times trying to concentrate on the surroundings. He was lying in his bed, home, with his husband who now was looking him in the eyes trying to calm him down by rubbing one of Shepard's cheeks with his thumb.

"A nightmare?" Kaidan asked concerned.

"Yeah…" Shepard nodded still trying to calm down from the dream.

"Huh, haven't had those in nearly a month," Kaidan sighed placing a soft kiss on Shepard's lips.

Kaidan intended it to be brief, but Shepard leaned into the kiss, catching the other man's lower lip between his, wrapping his arms around his neck and tugging him closer. Kaidan sighed into the kiss, giving Shepard a small opening he needed. Shepard slid his tongue into his husband's mouth, tearing a quiet mewl out of Kaidan's chest, before with nearly no effort or fight from the biotic's side, he turned them around, pushing Kaidan on his back and mounting on top of him.

"Need you…" Shepard whispered against Kaidan's mouth.

"I'm here," Kaidan replied. "I'm here."

~ooo~

Shepard's presence at the warehouse was nothing but a formality. He wasn't a detective who was needed to solve a crime, he was a soldier. Still, Hackett thought that looking around the place with his own eyes could be useful.

Shepard looked at his data-pad reading the information about the biotic recruit Kaidan was sending him. Erika Neith, human, female, only twenty five years old, who had never yet received any promotion in ranks because of her age and very little experience. She joined the biotic training less than six month ago, but shown a great potential and enthusiasm.

Under the file with standard personal data, which Shepard only skimmed with his eyes, there was a small note from Kaidan: 'no field experience, sometimes can be bold and even impudent, but she's good. Also, be prepared to be asked to sign something for her. Knowing her, this something might be her breast, so try to ignore it. PS: Really, ignore it. Because if I will find out you signed her breast, I will get pissed.'

Shepard raised his eyebrow reading the note. He wondered for a moment why would his husband send someone like her, but he trusted Kaidan's opinion enough not to argue, because if Kaidan was ready to close his eyes on unprofessional behavior of someone, this someone must be really good.

Shepard stood next to the landing zone, waiting for a Kodiak to pick him up. The commander also knew that Hackett assigned a third person for the mission, but he had never been informed who it was. Shepard suspected it would be some freshman as well. Actually, it was a common practice to assign several inexperienced people under the command of a good leader on simple missions. It considered to be a good training opportunity.

But when Shepard finally saw the person approaching, he couldn't believe his eyes. A wide smile crossed his face as the person reached him.

"Heeey, Loco!" Vega smiled, shaking Shepard's hand. "That's about time you'd show up, 'cause serving with someone but you just doesn't feel right."

"Not enough reapers to fight?" Shepard joked.

"Exactly!" Vega grinned. "Damn, can't believe we are going to kick some Cerberus asses though; like good old times!"

"I sincerely hope it's going to be less dangerous than the old times."

"Yeah, well..." Vega nodded. "Anyway, should I signal the shuttle?"

"We are actually waiting for someone else," Shepard shook his head.

"Someone?" Vega surprised. "By any chance, is it a hot blonde chick with big…" he made a round gesture over his chest, "…curves, whom I saw pacing in the waiting area?"

Shepard sighed rolling his eyes. Yeah, that was James Vega. A man who had been promoted twice in one year, major of the Alliance Navy and an N7 officer. And if everything Kaidan had informed him about this Erika was also true, it was going to be a one awkward trip. "Does she look like this?" Shepard flashed his data-pad before Vega's face showing him the profile picture.

"Yup, that her," Vega nodded.

Apparently the idea of standing next to the landing zone was a mistake. But Shepard was used to staying home for most of the time, and feeling real sun on his skin felt too good to miss the opportunity. At least the commander was lucky enough Vega spotted him, otherwise they could have waited for each-other for a very long time.

Together with the younger soldier, Shepard returned to the waiting area, where he found Private Neith. The girl was sitting on one of the metal benches, reading something on her data-pad. Shepard was certain that whatever it was, wasn't the mission assignment information, because no-one could read mission assignments with a facial expression normal people were saving for their lovers. The girl didn't even notice the two soldiers approaching, as she was staring on the screen, nibbling on her thumb. Shepard really didn't want to look at whatever she was reading, but his eyes slid down on the data-pad just for a second and this one glance was enough to accidentally spot the word 'penis' among some funky dialogue.

Shepard cleared his throat. The girl jerked on the seat and looked up, then hurried to stand, saluting the commander.

"Commander Shepard, it's an honor to meet you!" she announced with a wide smile.

"At ease, soldier," Shepard nodded. "Private Neith, I assume."

"Yes, sir!" she replied cheerfully. "At your service!"

Perhaps even too cheerful.

When Shepard asked her to follow, she did it without arguments or complaining, or even questions, neither did she initiate any attempts of seducing, as Shepard worried she could. The commander wondered for a moment about Kaidan's warning. To tell the truth, when his major mentioned 'bold' and 'impudent' he imagined someone like Jack, but Erika looked like a person who had a sense of respect and knew how to follow orders, and each person's personal preferences for reading materials were their business.

Then Shepard heard a quiet click behind his back, as if someone was taking a picture. He quickly turned his head and saw Neith giving him an innocent look, while finishing pressing some buttons on her omni-tool. Well, that was confusing.

When they left the waiting area, Vega sent a signal to the shuttle. "Ready for more surprises, Loco?" he grinned.

A blue Kodiak gracefully descended to the landing area, not further than several meters away from them, which made Shepard slightly nervous, as he knew that a maneuver like that would take a very good shuttle pilot.

"Hey Esteban! Open up!" Vega started to knock on the shuttle door, before the Kodiak had even had a chance to fully descent.

Shepard couldn't help but smile. He had seen neither Vega nor Cortez for over four months, when they attended to his wedding. And the time before that, was when they came to visit him in the hospital. Over a year ago. Of course they kept in touch with each other, sending mails from time to time, but it wasn't often. The large amount of work after the war kept everyone busy. Everyone was trying to help as much as they could and there wasn't enough time for social interactions. Shepard hoped that one day, when the mess after the reapers would be finally cleaned, they could see each-other more often. Maybe even go on a vacation together - the whole team.

But for now he had this; a small mission with a small reunion. A little thing which made him smile, made him happy, because he was finally able to see people who had become as close to him as family. And if anyone like Cerberus was about to come and mess with it, they'd better start running now, because Commander Shepard himself was coming to get them.


	5. Chapter 5

The areas around the city center were occupied by a great amount of service transport, working on clearing the ground from the rubble for new construction projects. The traffic around those areas was really bad, but Cortez knew some shortcuts and ways around, so road to the destination didn't take more than twenty minutes, even if the warehouse was on the other side of Vancouver.

"Still a lieutenant, huh?" Vega asked Cortez, standing behind the pilot seat and leaning on the frame between the passenger area and the pilot cabin. "Haven't thought about switching to piloting something else? 'Cause no way you will go any further with the Kodiak."

"It is where I needed the most right now," Cortez replied with a soft smile. "Plus, I'd grown to like the Kodiak while serving on the Normandy."

"Well, what about you and Alenko?" Vega turned to Shepard. "Kinda sucks that the guy who saved the entire galaxy got nothing, but a lousy medal and several congratulations."

"If you don't recall, I spent the last year out of the game," Shepard explained. "They don't exactly give up ranks to people, while having no idea if they'd ever be able to return. And Kaidan's division isn't big enough to have a general commanding it."

To tell the truth, Shepard didn't mind it. It wasn't like they didn't have enough money to complain. In fact, complaining would be something Shepard wouldn't even think about, considering he survived the war against all of the odds. Especially now that he had Kaidan.

"Not big, but with a great potential," Shepard heard Neith's voice. To tell the truth, he nearly forgot about the private - she had spent most of the ride with her data-pad. Now she was sitting on the metal bench in the passenger section of the Kodiak with her arms crossed on her chest and a wide smile on her face. "Ugh, that was off the record conversation, wasn't it?" she then added slightly bemused.

~ooo~

The warehouse was situated in a small area near an old port, with hoary buildings, which looked like they have been standing here since the end of the twenty-first century. Overall, the place seemed abandoned, but intact, not touched by the war like any other parts of Vancouver. But it wasn't surprising, considering that the reapers had been intentionally aiming for the most inhabited areas of the city.

The building they came to investigate was surrounded by a yellow cordon and several alliance soldiers were patrolling the perimeter.

"I have no idea what we can find in here that hasn't been found yet," Vega sighed stretching and getting out of the Kodiak, following Shepard. "They really had to send us straight to Horizon."

"Orders are orders," Shepard replied, "plus, we need to supervise the work of the biotic," he added nodding his head in Neith's direction.

"Right," Vega nodded as he offered Neith his hand attempting to help her get out of the shuttle. The biotic didn't even glance at the major, as she jumped out of the vehicle, paying zero attention to the offered hand. "Right," Vega repeated.

Shepard inhaled the fresh air, which smelt faintly like salt and fish - something he still couldn't get used to, even after a year living so close to the English Bay. But at the same time, the commander didn't consider the smell to be unpleasant. After over a year, he started to associate it with home.

It suddenly brought a pleasant memory: the way Kaidan's hair smelt after they were returning to their apartment from the beach, where water wasn't salty enough to feel like sea, but enough to smell like it.

Shepard reached for his side, touching a pistol hanging on his hip, moving his thumb over its surface - a gesture unintentional, but familiar, a habit he still had even after such a long time. The place was checked several times by the alliance soldiers and there wasn't anything dangerous here, so none of them wore armor. But the pistol was still there, just in case.

The three of them moved to the warehouse, receiving salutes from two guards on the entrance, who asked them for some documents, even if they didn't really need to look through them - it was just a standard protocol procedure.

On the inside, the warehouse was mostly empty. There were some old rusted barrels, several old boats in the corner, covered with dirty canvas sheets, but altogether they didn't occupy even a tenth of the premises. The floor was covered with an uncountable amount of debris, which was making crumbling noises every time they were making a step. The air also smelt like piss and rot, as if something had died in here several months ago. The smell was unpleasant, but there wasn't anything life threatening in the air, so the alliance didn't waste any resources to get rid of it.

"God, I think I might throw up," Neith wriggled her nose.

"Oh, come one, it's not that bad," Vega replied with a smirk. "After years of service, you get used to ignoring a lot of things."

"Are you trying to say I'm the only one noticed, because of my lack of experience... sir?"

"Well, it's a rough way to put it."

"Come on, you two," Shepard sighed. "The sooner we finish here, the sooner we can leave and no-one will have to suffer."

With those words he approached several crates in the middle, trying to spot the one they came for. The Cerberus crate was standing out from the pile of mostly rusted boxes and barrels, as it was plain white and distinguishably new. It was burned slightly on the outside and more severely inside, like something exploded in it. The explosion and the burned surface were the reasons the lab couldn't scan it for the presence of organic chemicals or tissues. Well, they did run tests, but found nothing.

"Could it be simple explosives?" Vega proposed looking inside the crate.

The private came closer to the box and sniffed it, making Shepard raise his eyebrow in surprise.

"No, not explosives," she concluded.

"Wait, did you just got it by smelling it?" Vega surprised.

"No, sir," she grinned, "I've read the reports. No matter what explosive they could've used it would leave traces for any chemical test to find. This in fact was caused by biotics."

She stepped away from the crate and sat on the ground. "Would you mind moving as far away as possible?" she asked. "I will scan the perimeter with my biotic field."

"Is it even possible?" Shepard surprised. He knew about biotics a lot, and scanning wasn't something he was aware of to be possible.

"For me, yes. I'm not very capable of using biotics in combat, but this is something I discovered, I can do well," Neith nodded. "Still, I will need you to step away."

"Is it dangerous?" Vega inquired.

"No, not at all. Your biometric impulses will just be distracting. Plus, I will be able to see every biotic power used by you or on you for the past day or two. And knowing that the commander is married to Major Alenko and the ways the biotics can be used for additional stimu -"

"Just stop there!" Shepard cut her off feeling a blush creeping up his neck, stepping as far away from the crates as the warehouse perimeter was allowing.

Vega followed him with a wide grin he wasn't even trying to suppress, "I like her," he whispered.

"She talks too much," Shepard sighed, still feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, she had to explain why she was making a request to a commanding officer, hasn't she?" Vega chuckled leaning on the metal wall of the building. "Although, you are right, I really didn't need to know it."

Shepard sighed, rubbing his temple with the pads of his fingers, watching the blue glow spread around the private, as she was scanning the area around her, sitting on the floor with her eyes closed. Her face was relaxed even if her posture was rigorous.

Now the commander could perfectly see what his husband really meant by his description under the personal file. He felt somewhat uncomfortable with the way she was talking about things. Not to the point where he couldn't bear with it, and not able to work, but just a little bit.

Shepard remembered another friend he experienced similar feelings towards at the beginning – EDI, with her inability of distinguishing inappropriate commentaries. But in the end EDI, as any other member of his crew, had become a great friend, so Shepard was sure if he was going to work with Neith longer, he would in fact develop the same level of affection. Neith seemed like a really good person.

"Can I say something, which will not go into the report?" Vega sighed switching to a more serious tone.

"Are you assuming that everything you said before was protocol strict?" Shepard smirked.

"No… I mean," Vega shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, I'm so up for a good dance, I just can't see why they needed our presence here. I understand they needed a biotic to check the place, and all of the missions which require human biotics go through Major Alenko now. I can understand they also required a presence of at least one person familiar with Cerberus. But we aren't the only ones available. Hundreds of alliance soldiers fought Cerberus. Maybe not as much as we did, but enough to accompany her."

"What are you implying?"

"I'm implying that it feels like they didn't tell us everything. Like it is more serious than it looks like."

Shepard hummed. He knew that acquiring a biotic assistance on a mission now required Kaidan's approval. But it was mostly a paperwork procedure where the alliance headquarters was sending a request and Kaidan was simply signing it. It even could have happened that this time his husband advised Shepard as a candidate to accompany his student, but he would have definitely told Shepard if he did so.

"I don't know," Shepard finally said. "Maybe, maybe not. It doesn't mean we need to back off."

"No, it doesn't," Vega agreed.

Neith meanwhile was still sitting on the floor, concentrating on the field. Her face was calm and emotionless. But then she opened her eyes, and Shepard could swear, for a second he saw dread panic crossing her features, as the biotic field dropped. Without giving it too much thought he rushed to the girl.

But the moment he reached her, she managed to calm down and look normal, like nothing had happened.

"You all right?" Shepard inquired.

"I'm fine, sir," Neith smiled standing up from the floor. "And now I have some information we need to proceed with the mission."

"What did you find?" Vega asked approaching.

"There have been several very powerful outbursts of biotic powers. One was accidental, and five more was controlled. The incidental was concentrated in the area of the crate. Five others happened all over the perimeter."

"So, you can confirm that whatever was in the crate was alive and capable of using biotics?" Shepard redefined.

"Yes, sir," Neith nodded. "Also, the three of five controlled outbursts were severely lesser in power. I can assume that they came from different sources."

"So, basically, whatever was in the crate, got free and started to fight Cerberus troops, who could also use biotics. They had time to only shoot three times and the thing killed all of them with two shots," Vega contemplated out loud.

"Yes, it seems logical," Neith agreed. "I can also confirm that the thing from the crate wasn't a human."

"What makes you think so?" Shepard asked.

"It used uncontrolled and controlled biotics at the same time. Are you familiar with the ways human biotic implants work?"

"Yeah," Shepard nodded, "they increase the potential of human biotics and allow the full control over the powers."

"It is true, but they also block any uncontrolled usage of it, so human biotics wouldn't 'burst out' spontaneously. So, if it was a human biotic, it would've been impossible to first explode without control and then suddenly regain this control."

"That's some impressive work, private," Shepard smiled, placing his hand on Neith's shoulder.

"Thank you, sir," she smiled wide. "Do you think we can leave now? It still smells like a dump in here."

"Oh, I couldn't agree more on that!" Vega grinned, turning around and heading to the exit with the biotic following him.

Shepard gave the place the final sweep with his eyes and moved toward the exit himself. Before he was about to step outside, something glinted from the floor, attracting his attention. The commander stepped closer to the source and noticed a very small metal piece laying on the ground. It was mostly buried under the dirt and it was nearly impossible to spot, if not by accident. Shepard picked a small stick from the ground and moved the object from under its cover.

It was a small round pendant. It was plain and flat, with nothing but 'B.F. 07' graved on it. The pendant was attached to a very short and thin metal chain. Commander reached for the pocked on the side of his uniform, extracting a small plastic bag and placing the pendant in it. If he was lucky this finding could be connected to the mission and maybe help to give at least some clues.


	6. Chapter 6

The sun had only started to rise above the horizon when Shepard woke up, feeling the warmth of another body pressed to him. It had never stopped to amuse the commander how much Kaidan liked to cuddle and snuggle. Even while asleep, he had always been finding ways to wrap himself around Shepard. But Shepard would be lying to say he didn't like it.

The commander slipped out from under his husband's arm, laying across his torso, before settling on the side of the bed, stretching. Kaidan turned to the other side with a quiet grunt, but didn't wake up. Instead, he found his own pillow, rolled to the middle of the bed, snuggling to it the way he had been snuggling to Shepard less than a moment ago. The little act made the commander smile.

Shepard looked at the clock. It was five in the morning, exactly an hour before he had planned to wake. For a moment Shepard considered returning to bed and sleep some more, or maybe even wake Kaidan up to find something better to do with the extra hour. Shepard looked at his husband, at the small raises and falls of his chest, at his cheek covered with stubble, which still had a mark from a crease of the pillow it was pressed against, his full lips parted and pouted. Shepard would have taken a picture of him like this if he hadn't had like ten of them already.

It was somewhat unreal that the two of them had been together for over a year. Shepard had never managed to get used to it fully, couldn't get used to the warmth of Kaidan's body next to his, as they slept, his kisses on the commander's cheek every time the biotic was returning from work, his warm breath against Shepard's skin, when they were relaxing on a couch in the living room, watching movies. It was impossible to get tired of it. They had even managed to be intimate nearly every day, even after over a year of living together, even with the fact they weren't that young anymore. Yet again, no way Shepard would complain about it.

Shepard sighed and stood up from the bed picking the pair of sweats from the floor and heading to the kitchen to make coffee. Yes, the idea of waking Kaidan was tempting, but he still didn't have the heart to do so in this early hour.

This day was going to be a long one. First, Shepard would have to head to the Alliance headquarters to talk to Hackett about assigning Kaidan to the mission with him. Shepard still wasn't sure it was going to work, even if Hackett promised him to take a look at the commander's request, but he sure would try, because returning on a mission was exciting, but returning on a mission in outer space with Kaidan was even better.

After the trip to the headquarters, Shepard had other plans, which were making him excited, but for different reasons. Last night the commander received a call from Liara, who informed him that she had checked everything and couldn't find any leads on the little girl's parents or relatives. The kid was an orphan and it meant he and Kaidan could actually start the adoption process.

Shepard's stomach suddenly started to swell at the thought. And it wasn't because of the excitement, but something more similar to nervousness. Would they be able to take care of a child? Would Shepard become a good father?

Shepard knew that his current work with the Alliance was temporary, that as soon as he returned from Horizon, he would probably be assigned with something requiring more sitting and paperwork, maybe even some planning too. He should have enough free time to take care of a child, plus Kaidan could get some time off, to figure things out. On another hand, what if the current assignment would take longer than the adoption process? That would be a terrible start being a father, if Shepard wouldn't be able to even show up the day they are supposed to come and take the child home.

At the beginning, they were also afraid that the girl had development problems, as she didn't talk to anyone, but yesterday they also received the results of medical exams from the doctor in the orphanage, which were extremely difficult to perform, as the girl also turned to have a case of Iatrophobia - the fear of doctors and medical equipment. The child's brain worked perfectly fine and she didn't have any problems with health or development whatsoever, so the fact that she wasn't talking was probably connected with temporal psychological trauma - something unpleasant considering her age, but fixable.

Another news they'd received from the medical exams was the discovery that the girl had been exposed to eezo. Right now she wasn't showing any signs of biotics, like any other child her age, but there was a good chance for it to happen later. With a soft smile, Shepard recollected the priceless look on Kaidan's face when he found out about their kid having biotic potential.

Shepard had already made fresh coffee and now was sitting in the kitchen drinking it with a data-pad in his hand, reading for the fourth time his own report to Hackett describing the reasons why he would need Kaidan on the mission, when he heard the shower starting. He grinned and stood from his chair leaving the coffee and the report on the table, before sneaking into the bedroom, slipping out of his sweats and briefs and heading to the bathroom.

Kaidan had already started to shampoo his head, when Shepard appeared. He quietly knocked on the door of the shower stall. "Hey, Kaidan. Want some company?" he asked.

"Uh," Kaidan replied from the other side, "I really hoped to be quick."

"We will make it quick," Shepard grinned, opening the door.

"Yeah, right…" Kaidan smiled.

The biotic was standing under the spray of water, leaning on one of the walls as he watched his husband entering a small space of the shower stall and closing the door behind. The water was running down his fine sculptured body making it glisten and look way too appealing not to touch or lick. Shepard ran his eyes down Kaidan's torso to his waist and lower where he noticing a very erected member giving a distinct twitch, the moment Shepard's eyes reached it.

"So, you said you didn't want me here?" Shepard smirked.

"I really, really wasn't planning on doing anything with it," Kaidan sighed.

"Well, too bad then," Shepard licked his lips and descended to his knees.

The commander smiled wide before he placed a lightest of kisses on the tip of his husband's cock before suddenly, without any warning taking as much as he could into his mouth.

"John!" Kaidan whimpered, grabbing onto Shepard's already wet hair.

Shepard hummed quietly, making his husband groan, as he was keeping him inside his mouth not moving his head, but simply rubbing his tongue across Kaidan's shaft. Then he slowly retreated, just enough so only the head of his husband member was between his lips and wiped the tip of his tongue over the slit tasting the salt of Kaidan's pre-cum.

"You are being terribly mean," Kaidan groaned frustrated, looking down at his husband.

"Mhhmm," was the only thing Shepard could reply before starting to move his head forward painfully slow, holding Kaidan by the hips, so the other man couldn't move them in an attempt to rush the process. Instead Shepard started to feel his husband's hands pushing his head further into the biotic's groin.

Shepard retrieved his head and looked up at his husband, which made the other man groan yet again.

"Are you going to just tease me and leave me?" Kaidan chuckled.

"Who said so?" Shepard laughed, "turn around," he added then, smirking.

Kaidan hummed and obeyed, turning around and leaning slightly forward, so Shepard could have a better access.

"Have you washed already?" Shepard inquired.

"No, hadn't had much time, before you appeared," Kaidan shook his head.

The commander reached for one of Kaidan's buttocks with his mouth biting it gently, before kissing the same exact spot, then he repeated the same actions on the other side. The biotic shivered each time. Finally he reached for the side of the shower stall, pushing a button on the soap dispenser, getting a handful of the orange gel, which smelled like some citrus and mint. He returned this hand to Kaidan's body, starting to spread it over his perfect posterior, getting closer and closer to the crack with every swipe. When his hand had finally reached the cleft, starting to slowly move over Kaidan's entrance, the biotic moaned out loud.

There were many sensitive spots on Kaidan's body, but only two of them could turn the man into a needy, shivering and uncontrolled wreck. One of those spots was on his neck, at the base of his skull - the sensitive skin over his biotic implant, and the second was his sphincter. Both of the spots, for a better effect, required some attention of Shepard's tongue.

The commander swiped the soapy hand several more times around the crease of Kaidan's ass, concentrating on his entrance, then he took a hold on Kaidan's hips moving him under the spray of water and cleaning the soap, before he finally spread his buttocks with both of his hands, stopping for a moment to admire the view. Kaidan definitely knew what was coming next, as his entire body was stiff in anticipation, his breaths were coming short. Shepard smiled and reached for the pucker with his lips placing a soft kiss over Kaidan's hole. The reaction was immediate. A strong shiver ran through entire Kaidan's body like the man was electrified. He emitted a groan which sounded more animal than human, followed by a series of quiet indistinguishable sounds, which could have been words of love, or could have been crude curses - it was difficult to tell.

Shepard grinned against his husband's rear swiping his tongue over the entrance. Kaidan buckled backwards, pressing himself harder against Shepard's mouth while his forehead hit the wall with a quiet thud. From there on Shepard started to work eagerly, licking Kaidan and kissing him and even occasionally nibbling the wrinkles around Kaidan's anus with his teeth.

Kaidan was shivering hard and groaning. "John," he exhaled with his voice deep and trembling. "Just take me already."

"Maybe I wanted to tease you some more," Shepard chuckled, trying to stay composed, even if more than anything right now, he wanted to sink deep into his biotic.

"Maybe I wanted to press you against the other wall with my biotics and have it my way?"

"Ugh, that's low, Kaidan."

"But effective, huh?"

"Well, I have nothing to counter," Shepard laughed as he stood up and reached for the shelf with bathroom supplies, extracting a small bottle of lube they kept in there for occasions like this.

Shepard coated two of his fingers with lube, then reached for his biotic's entrance yet again, slipping the fingers in; both of them sliding inside Kaidan with ease, as the muscles around his entrance were relaxed enough for it.

Shepard continued scissoring his husband for a while, covering the back of his neck with gentle kisses, tearing more sounds of pleasure out of him.

"John..." Kaidan warned finally, his voice filled with impatience.

"All right," Shepard whispered against Kaidan's ear as he retrieved the fingers. He reached for the bottle again, pouring some of the cool liquid on his palm, before starting to spread it over his own aching cock. "Turn back," he commanded.

"Um, I think, it will be uncomfortable," the biotic protested.

"Just... turn, please."

Kaidan didn't continue to argue any further turning to face his husband.

"Hold onto my shoulders," Shepard asked as took a hold of Kaidan under his buttocks and started to lift him against the wall.

"Shepard, what the hell?" Kaidan yelped slightly desperate. "Your back!"

"I'm not an invalid, _Alenko_," Shepard groaned, lifting his husband high enough to place his legs around own waist sliding his cock between Kaidan's buttocks and starting to slowly push in.

Kaidan was probably right, and Shepard's back was going to hurt like hell after this, together with his knees and maybe even shoulders, as the biotic was quite heavy. But Shepard wasn't a weak person either, even now after a year without heavy training, he still was capable of handling his husband.

Either because of realizing that arguing wasn't going to help, or simply because Shepard was halfway inside and Kaidan couldn't think straight, the other man didn't put any further fight, wrapping his one arm around Shepard's neck and the other placing between their bodies, starting to stroke himself.

Shepard pushed a little bit more until he was fully buried inside the biotic. The heat of Kaidan's body was electrifying especially in contrast with the water, which slowly started to cool down. Shepard groaned before catching Kaidan's lips with his own, locking their mouths in a heated kiss, and rocking his hips back and forward in a steady pace.

It didn't take much time for Kaidan's breath to start quickening, his hand starting to move faster over own member, like he was desperate to cum, which he probably was. But Shepard didn't mind, as he was sure he wasn't going to last long either, not with the sounds Kaidan was making into his mouth, not with the nearly burning heat around the commander's cock.

Shepard broke the kiss starting to bite and suck on Kaidan's neck, trying to not overdo it at the same time, leaving too many marks. It wasn't like he didn't like the idea of leaving the said marks, he just knew Kaidan would feel uncomfortable if he wouldn't be able to cover them while working with students. So instead he just picked up the pace thrusting harder.

"John…" Kaidan mewled tensing up, the movement of his hand stopped.

"Don't stop, love, cum…" Shepard growled. He was nearly on the edge himself.

Kaidan nodded and resumed the strokes. It didn't even take more than a few pumps before his entire body tensed and his head flew backwards, hitting the wall again as he came all over their stomachs. Shepard could feel the muscles inside Kaidan starting to spasm, a sensation so pleasant that it was all that took Shepard to climax, spilling himself into his husband.

For nearly a minute they stood there not even moving, catching their breaths. Then Kaidan sighed and started to move out of Shepard's grasp, trying to stand on own feet. Shepard carefully lowered him back before releasing him.

"That was great," Shepard smiled, embracing Kaidan around his waist.

"Mhhmm…" Kaidan agreed, pressing himself closer to Shepard and nuzzling lazily the younger man's neck with his nose. Then he groaned in frustration, before stepping away. "Damn, I hate doing it without a condom," he admitted with a sigh, fidgeting uncomfortably on his feet.

"I don't recall you complaining when we just started the relationship," Shepard smiled kissing the biotics cheek.

"Yeah, well, marriage change people, what can I say?" he chuckled. "Anyway, I think I'm done with the shower. I need to..." he made a vague gesture towards the direction of the toilet, before hurrying from the shower stall.

Shepard leaned against the cool tiles smiling, still feeling a little tired from the sleep and sore from lifting Kaidan, but at the same time content and relaxed. He moved from the wall to finish the shower and was rewarded with a sharp pain down his spine. It was going to be a really long


	7. Chapter 7

Shepard tried to suppress a yawn, as he rode the elevator to the Hackett's office but failed. Why did his body decide to wake up so much earlier that he supposed to, he didn't really know. At least he had time to make a decent breakfast for himself and Kaidan, not to mention a really good long shower they shared. But still, two hours later, his brain decided that he had to sleep more, and started to shut down even after two cups of coffee he had had earlier.

It was unlike him, really. At least not like him the way he used to be a year ago, because he had never had this problem back then, sleeping sometimes only three or four hours a night and still being able to perform on a battlefield. But Shepard suspected it was the stress and a strong wish to live, which kept him up during the reaper invasion.

Shepard shook his head trying to will his sleepiness away, as he really had some important things to discuss with Hackett and it would be really inappropriate to yawn in the admiral's presence. Thinking about the inappropriate, Shepard's mouth opened yet again without any consent from the commander's side, making him swear under his breath.

The elevator reached the top floor and the door opened with a chime, which sounded loud enough to be annoying and not enough to wake the commander up. Shepard stepped out of the elevator and activated his omni-tool to check the time. He was twenty minutes early. The commander scanned the area with his eyes in an attempt to spot a coffee vending machine, like the ones he saw on the first floor but, as expected, there were none.

The commander checked the time again, thinking about returning to the lower floors, but the door on the other side of the corridor opened, revealing the admiral standing there and looking at him. Sheppard approached, saluting as he did.

"My apologies, sir, I didn't expect to come this early," he said.

"It's all right, you can come in now," Hackett nodded inviting him into his office. "I could've actually briefed you on the omni-link, but looks like even our highly secured lines are not that secure," he explained when both of them were inside.

"What do you mean, sir?" Shepard inquired.

"Right now it's not officially confirmed, but looks like someone shady got a good grip on our channels. Nothing important had leaked, but we still need to be cautious," the admiral explained.

"Someone Shady? You mean Cerberus?" Shepard guessed; the agitation clear in his voice.

"No, I mean someone else. We had found several bugs among our equipment several days ago," Hackett sighed looking around the office room. "Have you heard any news about the Shadow Broker's activities lately?" he asked after a small pause.

Shepard heart skipped a beat. Was it Liara who bugged the headquarters? And if it was her, what sort of information she could possibly need from the Alliance?

Shepard's face had probably changed while he thought about it, attracting Hackett's attention as the next thing the admiral asked was: "Do you know anything about it?"

"No, sir," Shepard shook his head, lowering his voice, "do you think it was the Shadow Broker who did it?"

Both of them perfectly knew about the Shadow Broker's identity, but it was an unspoken agreement to not mention it out loud, because if the rest of the world would find out about Liara, someone for sure would like to either eliminate her or demand to charge her for the crimes she hadn't committed. The Council would have to imprison her to maintain their authority, even if they used her help themselves in the past. Not to mention how unfair it would be, considering Liara's help with the crucible and the war effort in general.

Hackett gave the commander an appraising glance, but didn't say anything else on the topic. "Why don't we proceed with the actual matters then?" he proposed instead. "As I understand, you wanted me to assign Major Alenko, who is listed in our database as Major Shepard-Alenko and who is also listed as your marital partner, on the upcoming mission with you?" he asked.

Hackett managed to allude their relationship twice in the same sentence. It was a really bad sign.

"Yes, sir," Shepard confirmed anyway, "I assume you have already received my report explaining my reasons."

"Indeed, I have," Hackett nodded. "Although, the affairs between married people are not considered as fraternization, the general attitude to personal relationships between individuals serving in the same military unit is highly negative, as it may affect battlefield performance and professional judgment." Shepard felt like Hackett was simply quoting lines from the book. The admiral's face stayed nearly emotionless the entire time, his eyes never moved away from Shepard. "Still, I had promised to look into it in a case the mission will turn to be more serious, than we anticipated, but so far there was nothing to indicate this is crucial enough."

"The mission is connected to Cerberus. I hope you do understand that the chance of it turning out more serious than we're anticipating is high. Plus, based on my own experience, my relationship with Kaidan has never affected my judgment or battlefield performance." Shepard pushed, trying to keep his voice even.

"I understand a lot of things, Commander," the admiral nodded, "but I also want you to understand that I'm not the one who decides those metter. During the final push in London a year ago, as it was mentioned in at least dozen reports, you ordered the Normandy to evacuate the major from the battlefield even if she was assigned to a different location, which lead to several additional casualties among the Sword group. Many people who know you, me included, did our best to cover it up, but the committee might still bring up this incident, if I try to assist you with your request while we have nothing to support the danger of the mission. From all we know it can be some thugs pretending to be Cerberus agents."

"I understand it, sir," Shepard finally sighed. His order to evacuate Kaidan wasn't connected with their relationship, he would have done it for any other member of his squad, but he also could see that Hackett had a point. Still, there was something in the situation bothering Shepard, "I need to ask, sir, if it was a simple operation of thugs sneaking in contraband, would it require my and Major Vega's assistance?" He inquired.

"Shepard…" Hacked sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "You've always been one of the best soldiers I have ever had a pleasure knowing. The best, even, considering what you've managed to pull off. However, with your current medical condition, the Alliance doesn't consider you as such any longer. Please, forgive me if I'm being too blunt right now. Don't take it personally either, but your assistance on the mission isn't valued as high as you assume."

Shepard felt like a bag of bricks fell onto his head. Of course he understood the admiral's reasons, but at the same time, it was a serious blow to his his feelings and self-esteem.

"I… I understand, sir." He managed in the end.

"Good. But please, don't start thinking too low about yourself either. Your knowledge on the topic and military experience are still valuable for the operation. That is why it has been decided to assign you with command of a starship at the first place."

"Thank you, sir." Shepard nodded. "I request the information about the starship be forwarded to me."

"It has been done already. I ordered it to be forwarded the moment you entered the building – the short range data sharing is still considered secure. The departure is tomorrow at eighteen hundred Earth time. Good luck, Commander."

"Thank you, Admiral," Shepard stood from the chair and saluted, before turning and exiting the room.

~ooo~

Shepard had to suppress an urge to emit inappropriate noises, when he turned his data-pad on to read the forwarded information about the ship he was assigned to. Thankfully, he managed to remain silent, as he was in the middle of Alliance headquarters' cafeteria sipping from a cup of black coffee. He still felt tired when he returned to the first floor, but one glance at his data-pad jolted him awake.

Shepard looked through the first line, reading the name of the ship several times, just in case he'd read it wrong, but re-reading the line didn't change anything. Normandy. His ship. He was assigned as commanding officer to the Normandy. Shepard scanned the crew list with his eyes, happy to see so many familiar names still on board. It felt great, felt too good to be real. He even considered pinching himself just to check if he was dreaming. Although, considering most of his dreams were still mostly weird and nightmarish, this probably was only thing which could make his day better, was if Kaidan could go with him, but no matter how much Shepard wanted it, he couldn't change Hackett's decision yet. Shepard felt like he was betraying his husband somehow by leaving him behind for a week, knowing that Kaidan would like to return to theNormandy as much as Shepard.

"Mind if I join you, Commander, sir?" He heard a female voice from his left side.

Shepard turned his head looking up and spotted Private Neith standing next to his table with a tray in her hands and a wide smile across her face. At the same time, her posture looked tense, like she wasn't sure how to behave in a situation like this, unsure how she was supposed to speak to her commanding officer in this situation.

"Sure, suite yourself," he nodded. "What are you doing here?" he asked then realizing that Neith was supposed to be in the other facility.

"They transferred me here few days ago, sir," Neith explained settling on the opposite side of the table. "I need to finish some debriefings about service on a starship. The basic training supposed to last several months, but they are trying to cover everything before tomorrow evening. It is pretty crazy, actually."

"First time off planet?" Shepard inquired.

"Yes, sir, it is really exciting. I feel like I'm going to actually do something with my life," she smiled, but for some reason to Shepard her smile looked more sad than happy, like she forced it.

He placed his cup on the table looking the girl in the eyes. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, nothing is wrong, sir," she shook her head, "it's just… I'm not sure I'm even suppose to talk about it."

"Well, Private, you are in my squad now, on my team. I can assure you that you can talk to me if there anything bothering you," the commander smiled in approval.

Neith sighed, "It's just... I wish my parents could see me now, I wish they could be proud of me."

"Are they…" Shepard had never been sure how to talk on topics like this. It had always been difficult for him, even if everyone who knew him, considered him to be really good at reassuring people. "Did something happen to them?"

"No, they are fine," she shook her head, "good in fact. At least that is what I heard from the extranet news - they ran a private cruise line agency, so it was easy to find. I haven't talked to them in over nine years. We had, what you can call, a difficult relationship after my brother died."

"Nine years is a lot of time. Have you ever considered calling them at least?" Shepard asked.

"I have. I really wanted to call them after the war, but I never found the courage. Maybe I will try to do it. But not right now, I really want to achieve something in my life first. Do something important," she smiled looking somewhere to the right through the crowd with dreamy eyes. Shepard knew this kind of expression too well, he used to know so many people with whom he'd served, who had similar dreams. So many people were joining the Alliance because of similar reasons.

Shepard ran his eyes over her gentle features. Neith was a beautiful girl. Not the kind of beauty that was striking or vulgar - she wasn't anything even close to a face on a cover of a glamour magazine. It was beauty you had to take time to notice, to start to appreciate.

"Anyway, I think that's enough talking about me," she concluded.

"Anything else you want to talk about. The upcoming mission for example?" Shepard chuckled.

Neith's eyes suddenly came to life, like they were lit with tiny sparkles."Wait. You want to talk about mission? Like protocol level discussion, or more like a 'enkindle this, criminal scum!' kind of one?" She asked enthusiastically.

Shepard blinked, raising his eyebrows. Did she just…

The excitement Shepard could read in her features, disappeared as fast as it came. She covered her mouth with a hand, blushing in embarrassment, "I apologize, sir!" she whispered through her hand, "it was very unprofessional of me!"

"So, you like Blasto?" Shepard asked not even trying to hide his amusement.

The private blinked back at the commander before her eyes widened again and the first honest smile appeared on her face. "That is one of my favorite movies!" she exclaimed. "Wait, you're saying that the great Commander Shepard watches Blasto?"

"All seven movies. Several times," Shepard gave the private a challenging look. "What, I don't look like a kind of guy who would enjoy something like that?"

"No, you'll need to prove it," she laughed. "What is your favorite character?"

"Well, it would be easy to say Blasto, right?" Shepard grinned, "but I think I like Bubin more. He sort of balances Blasto's personality, making him look on some things differently."

"Oh my god!" Neith clasped her hands. "You're the first person I've met outside of the extranet who agrees with me on that!"

Shepard grinned even wider, "plus, the actor who plays Blasto is kind of an ass," he confessed proudly.

The commander wasn't sure how long they have been just sitting there talking, because of how easy it turned out be, like something natural, like they've known each other for a very long time. After what seemed like only several minutes, but was actually half an hour, Neith had to run for her training. Shepard wished her good luck and watched her head off towards the lifts. It looked like Neith was going to be a great asset to the team, now he had no doubts about it.

* * *

*I actually spent some time researching the fraternization protocol, and according to it Shepard and Kaidan technically can be assigned together. But it would ruin my plot, so I had to improvise...  
** I didn't try to make Hackett an ass. I just tried to make him honest and professional as the admiral has never been really close with Shepard.


	8. Chapter 8

Shepard walked from the bedroom to the living room and back several times. He tried to pretend that he was getting ready for the appointment with the orphanage director and not simply pacing nervously. At least that was what he told to himself - he suspected Kaidan wasn't buying it.

"Did you really have to come to the bedroom to grab a clean pair of socks, just so you could leave them on a couch and return for another pair?" Kaidan chuckled, amused.

Shepard looked over his husband, appraising his casual appeal. By this time, Kaidan had managed to change from his uniform into plain blue jeans and a gray button-up shirt and even had time to place another layer of gel in his hair. Shepard wished he could drag Kaidan into the shower and wash the gel away, because of how good his hair felt to the touch without it. Every time Shepard brought the idea up, Kaidan argued that without the gel his head looked like he stuck his finger in a light socket, as his biotics were generating too much static electricity. The more Kaidan talked about the static electricity, the more confident Shepard was Kaidan just didn't like his hair curling.

"I didn't…" Shepard tried to protest, but noticed that he in fact was holding a second pair of socks, instead of a clean undershirt he came here for. Huffing in frustration, he threw the socks back into the drawer and opened another one with shirts. "My mind is just somewhere else," he admitted.

"I noticed," Kaidan nodded, walking to his husband and placing a reassuring hand on Shepard's bare shoulder. "Just stop overthinking it. I'm pretty sure it's going to be easier than facing the reapers."

"Yeah, I guess," Shepard agreed smiling at his husband. "Plus, Liara is going to be there, so we will have someone who really knows how to deal with all those documents."

The night before, Shepard talked to Liara again, asking if she could appear at the orphanage in person. Liara admitted that she would be happy to oblige as she hadn't seen them in months. After the briefing with Admiral Hackett, Shepard had another reason to meet with her. He wasn't really interested why Liara decided to bug the Alliance headquarters, as he knew she would never use the information for ill purpose. Shepard just wanted to ask her to be more careful, so nothing could compromise her identity.

"It is going to be great to see her again," Kaidan smiled. "We could go somewhere tonight. Have a few drinks, you know."

"Yeah, just not too late," Shepard agreed, pulling the shirt over his head.

"Why not?" Kaidan asked, confused. "I don't have to work tomorrow and you depart at six. Unless, you were planning to, you know," Kaidan gave Shepard his special seductive smirk, "because we are not going to see each-other for some time."

"Ugh, well," Shepard chuckled nervously, "about it… I think it's not going to happen either."

"Huh?" Kaidan raised his eyebrows.

"Your mom called, she is planning on coming over. She will probably stay overnight too, so…" Shepard explained as a matter of fact.

"Wait, what?" Kaidan surprised.

"Well, she called, I kind of mentioned about our plans. She decided to come over to help. She was actually upset that we didn't call her sooner."

Kaidan blinked several times rubbing his neck, "she called you?" he asked.

"Well, you were at work," Shepard shrugged his shoulders. "So, it looks like we are going shopping tomorrow morning to buy what we need for the kid."

"You know, sometimes your friendship with my mother scares me," Kaidan admitted shaking his head in defeat.

"Well, she gave me with your childhood pictures..." Shepard chuckled, now trying to find a pair of pants which weren't too small for him. It wasn't an easy task, considering he gained some extra weight during the past year. Not too much to be noticeable, but enough to have a couple of pants that felt way too tight on him.

"Exactly," Kaidan pointed out with a smirk.

~ooo~

They arrived to the orphanage exactly an hour before their scheduled meeting with the director. Liara was waiting for them next to the entrance with her arms crossed over her chest, looking very tired. Shepard honestly expected Javik to be with her, but the last prothean was nowhere to be seen. Her face brightened when she finally noticed Shepard and Kaidan approaching, she began walking towards the couple, barely hiding her excitement and happiness.

"It is so great to see you two!" she smiled embracing them. "I wish I could've visit you earlier," she admitted.

"It's great to see you too, Liara," Shepard smiled back. "And no worries, you're a pretty busy person."

Liara attempted to pull them inside the building to discuss the details of the adoption process, but no matter how much Shepard wanted to proceed with the matter, there was something he really needed to talk to her about first. It was something they couldn't discuss in public, he asked her to follow him inside the car he and Kaidan arrived in. For a moment the commander considered asking Kaidan to wait outside, but then decided against it, as the major knew about Liara and was capable of keeping his mouth shut, if needed.

"Liara," Shepard started when they were inside the car, "before we will go any further, can you explain something to me?"

The asari looked at him confused. Then she looked at Kaidan, who had no idea what was going on either, so he couldn't provide any help. "Anything," she nodded finally.

"What did you need from the Alliance HQ?" Shepard asked seriously.

Liara's eyes widened in surprise and confusion. Once again she moved her eyes from Shepard to Kaidan and back. Shepard realized, that she had no idea what he was talking about, which meant the bugs weren't even hers.

"I don't understand," Lara shook her head, "what do you mean?"

Kaidan, who was sitting on the back seat, furrowed his eyebrows, asking the commander the same question, but without words.

"Ok," Shepard nodded, taking a deep breath. "Ok," he repeated. "It's just… I talked to Hackett this morning. He informed me that they found several bugs, suspecting the Shadow Broker planted them."

"Shepard…" Liara whispered looking away, "it is the first time I'm hearing about it. I have to admit, that I have my informers in the Alliance, but for as long as I worked as the Shadow Broker, those informers have mostly been receiving information, not providing it."

"Good," Shepard nodded, relaxing on his seat. "I just wanted to warn you to be careful, but turned out it wasn't even you."

For a moment a dead silence hung upon the car, which was only disturbed by the faint sounds of the street outside. Among those sounds Shepard could hear children's laughter coming from somewhere on the property of the orphanage. It sounded good. Really good, like the exact thing he fought for all this time.

"So, let me get it straight," Kaidan started after the moment of contemplation, "someone bugged the Alliance headquarters?"

"Yeah," Shepard nodded, "and now we know it wasn't Liara, so who has done it and why is still a question."

"Could it be the informers, you mentioned?" Kaidan addressed the asari.

"Why would they need it?" the Shadow Broker shook her head. "The communication with those informers works person to person, as the data is way easier to track, so it makes it more difficult to stay hidden. That is why installing bugs, especially in a place like military headquarters, where they check for things like that, at least twice a day, is a really bad idea."

"Well, you do know how often they are being checked," Kaidan pointed out with a chuckle.

"I know a lot of things, Major," the asari sighed, "but not about who or why would install bugs in the Alliance headquarters. As I said, my informers have been mostly receiving. It doesn't mean that I don't have a hold on some secret files. Not that I would ever use it with ill purpose," Liara replied. "Anyway, we actually came here for different reasons," she added with a smile. "Quite different, even. I'm honestly happy for you two. Planning on getting a child must be exciting."

"It is," Shepard nodded, while he fixed his gaze on his husband who in his turn looked back at Shepard with so much comfort and love reading in his eyes, that the commander started to feel his initial fright and the lack of confidence disappear.

Shepard was surprised the asari possessed so much knowledge on the topic, but he didn't question it. In the end Liara was the Shadow Broker and she really knew what she was doing.

They still had nearly an hour to discuss every detail of what they would have to sign and what documents they would have to provide. Shepard honestly had no idea that adopting could require so much paperwork, so many documents gathered from their side. Neither Shepard nor Kaidan thought about it, coming to the appointment with their IDs only. Thankfully, Liara had everything prepared, even the copy of their marriage certificate and the tax records, which if it was anyone else, but Liara would be really weird for them to have.

"If I will ever need it," Liara smirked, "I probably can find last ten vids you looked up on the extranet."

"Well, now you make me nervous, Liara," Shepard chuckled slightly uncomfortable. With the corner of his eyes he could see Kaidan turning away, trying to look anywhere but their friend.

There weren't any documents proving their Specter status, of course, because they did not exist. The only way to confirm it was to send a request to the Council, but it was really unnecessary for the adoption process. Plus, both of their Specter statuses were 'on hold' anyway.

Liara also explained that at least three months should pass after a child arrived at the orphanage before it would be possible to adopt them, in case their real relatives would show up. She had checked everything and was sure that the girl didn't have any, so she reassured them it was possible to go around it and she knew how. Even with that, the process was going to take at least two weeks, so Shepard didn't have to worry about flying to Horizon. In general, everything looked good, great even.

~ooo~

Sarah Renmy, the director of the orphanage, was a middle age woman who looked more like a scientist or a doctor than someone who was taking care of kids. She was wearing a white coat with a small name tag clipped to her chest pocket. She invited them into her small and rather simple looking office with old furniture, which looked like it had to be replaced at least ten years ago. Shepard suspected that the replacement wouldn't happen for at least the same amount of time, as refurbishing orphanages was not on the list of government priorities. Not while they still had to think about finding funds to feed the kids first.

The office although had several personal touches, like pictures of kids filling one of the walls to the point there wasn't an empty spot left. There were also several pictures drawn by the kids; some of them even looked pretty good. To the commander all of those little details were telling more about the person working here, then a nearly unnoticeable diploma hanging in the darkest corner of the office.

"Ah, Mr. Shepard, Mr. Alenko, Doctor T'Soni. I've been expecting you," the director smiled reaching to shake their hands.

To Shepard it was strange to hear someone calling him 'mister', as he was used to everyone addressing to him as 'commander'. He didn't even realize at first she was talking to them.

"It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Renmy," Shepard nodded, accepting her handshake.

"Oh please, not as good as it is to see you three. Not everyday you meet people like you," she admitted, waving them to sit. "I assume you came because of the girl you brought in several days ago?" she inquired after the three of them settled on the folding chairs in front of her desk.

"Yes, we would like to adopt her," Shepard informed with a nod.

The director opened her mouth to say something, then simply closed it looking suspiciously at the three of them, moving her eyes from Shepard to Kaidan and finally to Liara.

"Oh, no," Liara chuckled. "I'm here as a notarial representative. I believe I sent you a mail about it."

"Oh," Mrs. Renmy nodded, slightly flushed. "It is my assistant who takes care of the correspondence," she explained, "I was just informed that the three of you were supposed to come today. My apologies."

"So, now when this little detail established, can we proceed with the matter?" Liara inquired, opening the folder with the documents she gathered. Her face changed to more serious and her every gesture became more formal.

The director locked her hands under her chin looking at the three of them again. This time she actually looked somewhat apologetic. "I'm afraid you won't be able to adopt her," she finally said.

"Why?" Kaidan surprised.

"You see, earlier this morning the girl's father came and took her," the director explained.

"This is impossible!" Liara snapped surprised. "Are you sure it was her father?"

"Well, we verified all his documentation: passports, birth certificate, pictures... I mean, I know that everything could have been theoretically fake, but he also gave us blood samples for a DNA test," The director explained, she sounded very unsure.

Shepard shared a look with Kaidan, who seemed as much shocked and upset as Shepard felt. He placed his hand over his husband's hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. Then he felt Liara's hand on his shoulder. Shepard turned to look at the asari who shook her head, which he interpreted as a sign to not give up.

"How did the girl react on him?" Liara inquired.

"It is difficult to say," Mrs. Renmy shrugged her shoulders, "I can't say she recognized the man, but she also had psychological trauma. She didn't seem to trust anyone in general," she explained.

"Could you give us the information about the man who took her?" Shepard asked.

"I'm afraid, it would be against the rules," the director shook her head.

"Sarah," Shepard looked her right in the eyes, "you don't seem like you trust whoever took the girl. I can see it in your eyes. Believe me when I tell you that to best of our abilities did everything we could to find leads on the girl's parents, but didn't find any. And trust me, we had enough resources to do so. So, if there is any chance that he lied to you, one single chance, please, cooperate," he pleaded.

Director Renmy appraised Shepard with a long thoughtful look. "You're right," she nodded after a small pause opening one of the drawers in her desk and starting to go through folders stacked in it, "I might get in trouble by giving you this file, but you're right…"


	9. Chapter 9

Liara was going through her third cup of coffee – a beverage habit she picked up on the Normandy. Her delicate looking fingers were wrapped around the mug absorbing the warmth radiating from it, her inhumanly big blue eyes moving in quick sniping motions over the text on the data-pad. It was almost comforting to see her working, her features still so very young and innocent even after everything the asari went through, everything she had become.

"Coronel Dough," she murmured blinking, "he has a perfect background: arrived three days ago in a shuttle from the colony on Feros to find his daughter who was kidnaped by his wife when they broke up. A teacher, with no criminal records. Perfect credibility…"

"Please, tell me that there is at least one 'but' in there… somewhere?" Kaidan sighed almost pleading. He was sitting on the opposite side of the table with a bottle of beer which wasn't even half-way empty in his hand.

"There is," Liara confirmed with a nod. "A really big one, actually. Remember when I made a check up on everyone arriving to Vancouver two days ago? Well, I still have those files saved, and there is no Coronel Dough in any of my lists. In fact, I asked Glyph if he could find any information on this person in any of the databases I have an access too. He made a full search, and there was not a single mention of Coronel Dough anywhere, at least no Coronels matching the picture we have and the records we were provided with."

"So, looks like our 'father' did not exist before this day," Shepard concluded.

"This is not correct either," Liara shook her head. "Coronel Dough did not exist before this day, but a man named Donovan Banet, who matches the picture we got, did."

"The man had to change his legal name to get a hold on the child?" Shepard hummed.

"There is something else on the file," Liara informed showing the data pad to Shepard and Kaidan. "Something you won't like. This man used to work for Cerberus a few years ago. Then disappeared out of the grid entirely."

"Cerberus?" Shepard surprised. "Well, now it looks like less of a coincidence."

"I still don't understand," Kaidan shook his head, looking very angry, "what does Cerberus need from this kid. I mean yeah, there are some creepy bastards in the galaxy, no arguments on that, and Cerberus is definitely full of them, but going through that much trouble?"

"Perhaps, you're looking on it from a wrong angle," Liara proposed.

"What do you mean?" Shepard inquired.

"I mean that the girl appeared out of nowhere. I know that even with everything your government is doing to prevent situations like this, it still could have happened, they still could have missed one kid wandering the streets," she started to explain, "but still, what if she arrived here no more than several days ago?"

"But you said yourself, that you checked everyone arriving to Vancouver." Kaidan pointed out.

"Everyone arriving the normal way," Laira corrected. "What if, say, she has been smuggled in a container, sleeping?"

Shepard's eyes widened as the realization struck him. He stood from his chair in a quick motion, placing his hands on the table, leaning on it, and at the same time regretting it as the too quick movement echoed in his back with a sharp pain making him wince. "That's one hell of a coincidence, even for me to meet a girl who theoretically ran away from Cerberus," He said.

"But was it a coincidence?" Liara shook her head. "For what we know it could be a trap."

Shepard glanced at Kaidan looking for support, but the facial expression of his husband told Shepard that Kaidan was absolutely on Liara's side.

"It's a child!" Shepard protested, hitting the table surface with his hand way harder than he intended. Liara's mug nearly jumped from the table, spilling some coffee over her data-pad. "I'm sorry," Shepard sighed turning away. "It's just… unreal."

Kaidan stood from his place and moved towards the kitchen counter to bring some towels to clean the coffee. On his way back, he passed his husband and patted him on the shoulder in a gesture of reassurance.

"You said that the girl was a biotic," Liara pointed out, leaning backwards and allowing Kaidan to wipe the spilled liquid.

"She doesn't have an implant," Kaidan reminded. "I can't deny that it happens sometimes that humans, exposed to eezo can accidentally create small Mass Effect fields even without the implant. There is still no way a human can control biotics without it. Not to mention that accidental outbursts are usually too weak to deal any real damage."

Liara sighed turning her eyes back to her data-pads, but not really looking at anything in particular at the same time. "Then, what if," she whispered, "what if she doesn't need an implant?"

Kaidan stopped still on the place eyeing the asari with shock. "A first human biotic who doesn't need an implant?" he managed finally.

"That would explain the Cerberus' interest," Liara proposed.

"It is still just a theory," Shepard shook his head sighing, "we don't have any proof."

There were plenty other ways it could have happened, which would explain the situation. The two accidents could not be even connected. The commander knew how a single kid could live unnoticed on the streets, knew that she could have not been alone, taken care of by someone older who would sneak out from hideouts finding food. This someone could have been caught so the girl had no other choice but to go and try to find some food herself. And the guy who took her, well, as Kaidan stated there were plenty creepy bastards in the galaxy and the fact he used to work for Cerberus didn't mean he still worked for them.

Shepard wanted to add something more, but the doorbell distracted him. He wondered for a moment who would come here at the late hour, but then remembered his conversation with Mrs. Alenko. Shepard started to feel really bad, as neither him nor Kaidan remembered to call her back, forgot to notify about the change of plans. But on another hand, it was probably too late to call anyway as she was most likely in the middle of the flight from the other end of British-Columbia.

"We will figure it out," Kaidan reassured in a soft voice, as he walked past his husband to open the door.

"Shepard," Liara called, when Kaidan disappeared from the kitchen. "I'm sorry that it turned out to be like that. I understand that you wanted to protect her, but… it is the best explanation we could come up with."

"I know," Shepard nodded. "I know."

"Kaidan is right. We will figure everything out," Liara encouraged smiling softly. "Meanwhile, I need to ask you something else."

"What is it?" Shepard inquired.

"I need to ask you for the permission to join you on the Normandy. I want to assist you on this mission, want to help."

The commander smiled hearing those words. "You have no idea how glad it would make me," he replied.

~ooo~

Shepard stood before a large medical facility situated several miles away from the Alliance headquarters. The Normandy still had the most of the crew intact, had some new faces and names Shepard was unfamiliar with. The only member who wasn't currently present on the ship and was a vital part of any operation at the same time, was a medical professional. With the data Shepard received from Admiral Hackett, there was a list of medics the commander could have chosen from, but the only one he fully trusted wasn't on this list.

Shepard stepped inside the building inhaling the familiar smell of spirit and chlorine wafting through the air, bringing some memories he hoped to never recollect. Unfortunately, the smell started to associate to him with pain and death, also with several months he had spent in this exact building trying to recover from the injuries he received after the explosion on the Citadel.

The general layout of the facility was also familiar to the commander. A rather large hall he stepped in looked exactly as he remembered it over half a year ago: same exact sterile space, with same exact furnishing and same exact workers. The visitors although were different.

The receptionist greeted him with a salute, as the medical facility was considered to be a part of the Alliance military. For the same exact reason she didn't ask any additional questions, pointing Shepard to the direction of Doctor Chakwas' office.

The doctor herself was sitting behind the desk, working on her personal terminal, so she didn't even turn her head when Shepard walked in. When she finally noticed the commander, her face changed from concentrated to surprised and happy at the same time.

"Shepard!" She greeted standing from her chair and walking towards him. "It's great to see you!"

Shepard reached out to shake her hand but Chakwas only laughed, embracing him instead. "After everything we've been through together, I think we can allow ourselves to be less formal," she explained with a smile.

"I'm happy to see you too, Karin," Shepard nodded.

"Well, you don't look injured to me, don't look sick. I hope you didn't come for the traditional brandy either, because in this case you will have to wait till the end of my working schedule," she said. "On another hand, I think I could make an exception, for you only," she smirked.

Shepard moved towards one of the tables on the side of the office leaning on it. "You do know why I'm here," he chuckled, shaking his head. "Although, I need to admit, it was a nice try."

The smile disappeared from Chakwas' features. "Shepard," she started in a more serious tone, "you are right, I do know. I received a request from the HQ several days ago."

"So what is the problem?" Shepard inquired. "I know that you want to return to the Normandy."

"I do, Shepard," Chakwas nodded. "You have no idea how much I want it."

"So?" Shepard raised his eyebrow giving the doctor a questioning look.

"The situation on Earth still isn't that great," Chakwas sighed, "There is a huge deficiency on good medics after the war. You'd be surprised how much patients we still have, even after an entire year. Raids on the refugee camps, looters - they are active right now the most. Sometimes there can be moments when a person should decide between what they want to do and what they should do. You have been facing with those decisions for as long as I know you. For me," Chakwas looked around the room, "this is one of those times."

"No way I can persuade you, then?" Shepard asked.

"No, no way. But we still can crack the bottle of that brandy I have in my cabinet. Just one little glass, no-one will ever notice. Doctor's order," she winked.

Shepard laughed moving from the side of the office closer to Chakwas' desk. "I will agree on that order, if you at least help me locate Doctor Michel."

"Ugh, Shepard," Chakwas shook her head, "I know that she was transferred to London. I haven't contacted her since then. But for what I can tell, she is in the same situation as I am."

"Well, that's unpleasant news," Shepard sighed. "I have no idea what I'm going to do then."

"Well, I still can help you. I know a very good doctor. She used to work at the HQ, but moved to the Citadel three years ago. From what I heard, their situation is better than on any other planet. On another hand, every single nation participated in the Citadel reconstruction, so maybe, it is not that surprising after all."

"Citadel? Is she there currently?" Shepard inquired.

"Yes," Chakwas nodded, "I myself met her at Huerta, but I believe she works somewhere else right now. I can send a query to find out which hospital she currently stated at, so you could pick her from there."

"If this doctor at least half as good as you are..." Shepard chuckled.

"Oh, don't flatter me, Commander," Chakwas weaved her hand brushing aside the compliment. "I'm just a one doctor, but," she added then, "Doctor Sonars on the other hand is very talented. She wrote many articles about human biotics. She is going to be a great asset for your team."

Shepard contemplated Chakwas' words for a moment. He almost wanted to ask how well she was informed about his current mission advising a human biotic specialist, but decided against it. The hypothesis they came up with yesterday wasn't shared with anyone, so there wasn't any way Doctor Chakwas could know.

"All right," Shepard nodded finally, "I was planning to visit the Citadel anyway, so might as well talk to her," he agreed. "And for now, where is that brandy you mentioned?"

~ooo~

The Kodiak was picking Shepard up at five from the apartment. At first the plan was to send a taxi to deliver the commander to the headquarters and there switch to the shuttle with his personal pilot, who would work with Shepard on the Normandy afterwards, but as this personal pilot was also Shepard's good friend, the plans were slightly altered.

The commander checked his bag at least five times, trying to be sure that he didn't forget anything, but considering that it was Kaidan helping him to pack, the checks were probably unnecessary. It didn't stop him anyway.

Liara had left the apartment earlier this morning, promising to be in time at the docking bay. Thankfully, their apartment was big enough to accommodate two unexpected guests with different rooms – they had three bedrooms and occupied only one.

Mrs. Alenko was finishing the dinner in the kitchen, probably with intentions to feed Shepard until he wouldn't be able to even move before the departure. "I'm perfectly familiar with what they are feeding you on those ships," she said with determination. "I can't let my son to go anywhere before I will be sure he's well-fed."

Mrs. Alenko turned to be good at providing moral support too. Last night, after Liara had excused herself and left to her room, the three of them just sat there for at least an hour talking. "I don't know who could have taken her," Kaidan's mother had said last night, "and I'm not going to ask, as the look on your faces tells me that it's classified. But the only thing I know, that you are going to go and get this girl from wherever she is. Not because you're The Commander Shepard, not because it is your duty, but because it is something that can make you happy."


	10. Chapter 10

Shepard was standing next to Cortez looking through the Kodiak screen shields. He spotted the Normandy from a far, and now was trying to suppress his excitement. The ship was standing docked to a large parapet extended from a military airport facility, surrounded by several other military vessels. She looked like new, like she just descended from the assembly line and hadn't even been into any battles. Its blue and white sides were shimmering, reflecting plashes of the slowly descending sun. She looked perfect.

The Kodiak flied across the landing zones missing the point where it supposed to drop the commander, and closer to the hangar gate of the ship which started to slowly open, before finally allowing the shuttle to fly inside.

"Any particular reason we're going through the cargo hold?" Shepard asked.

"EDI informed me about some minor troubles in the airlock." Cortez replied. "Nothing serious," He added quickly catching Shepard's concerned look, "probably someone spilled coffee or something."

"Well, there must have been a lot of coffee." Shepard hummed.

Shepard waited Cortez to fully stop the shuttle before he thanked the flight lieutenant and proceeded to the exit, stepping out from the Kodiak to find himself standing on the familiar metal floors of the Normandy. It was surprisingly silent and empty. Every step Shepard made echoed from the metal walls of the ships' shuttle bay area.

Shepard expected to see at least some people working in here, but there were none. The armory tables were clean of oil and every gun was carefully placed on the shelves above it. The second Kodiak stood separately in the other end of the room, the canvas sheet covering it still not removed. The armory lockers were powered up and blinking with faint orange lights, but the panels on the tables around them were dark, like no-one hadn't come even close to them for the last hour or so. The commander looked up through the windows leading to the engineering section, but couldn't see anyone there either.

It felt like the ship was abandoned.

"Something isn't right." Shepard whispered to Cortez who had already moved the Kodiak to its proper location and now followed the commander.

"I'm sure they are just being debriefed on the upper floors or something." Cortez sighed. "I can contact them, if you would like me to."

"No," Shepard shook his head moving to the elevator. "If there any problems, it would be better if we have an element of surprise. Stay close."

When the elevator stopped at the bridge level Shepard wasn't even sure what to expect as the fact that there wasn't a single person in the cargo hold made the commander worried. What if there was a trap waiting for him there? What if the Cerberus troops sneaked in, took everyone as hostages and now were waiting for the commander to show up?

Shepard took a deep breath, reaching for his pistol and stepped out of the elevator. It was dark and quiet, like the entire ship was dead. The only sound the commander could hear was a faint noise of the engine humming quietly from the lower floor. Something definitely wasn't right and Shepard was getting ready for the worst making a step to the wall not to be ambushed from behind.

Cortez maneuvered around him, placing his hand on the commander's shoulder. "Relax," he whispered with a chuckle. "I knew it was a bad idea."

The lights suddenly turned back on and a huge hologram letters saying "Welcome back, commander!" appeared in the center of the room, above the galaxy map. The entire crew was standing there, on the bridge looking at the commander with a smile. Shepard heard a weave of cheers and the entire room flashed again with dozens of colorful hologram fireworks.

"Commanding officer is on board." EDI infirmed cheerfully, like she actually waited to say it for a long time, "XO Vega stays relieved."

Chuckling and shaking his head Shepard returned his gun back to the belt. He honestly wasn't expecting it. "Wow, guys, thanks." He managed. "Although, you really made me worry for a second." He admitted.

Of course there weren't any actual celebrations, because the Alliance would not likely to support it while they were still docked next to one of the bases, but it was still really comforting to know that the crew cared. It was like returning back to a family the commander was so lucky to obtain.

~ooo~

"So, Alenko started to bore you to death and you decided to run away and return to us?" Joker grinned moving his fingers over the glowing panels of the Normandy controls in final preparation to the takeoff.

Shepard was standing from the right side of the pilot with his arms crossed on his chest, running his eyes over the panels watching the pilot work. He missed Joker. Hell, he even missed his jokes, even if his humor had always been that dry and absolutely not funny.

"Not even sure if I should go along with this joke and then be punched in the face by my husband if he ever finds out, or just punch _you_ in the face and pretend you've never said it." Shepard laughed.

"Whoa there, commander!" Joker protested. "You need this face to be pretty to pilot the ship!"

"I can assure you, Jeff, that the visual appearance of your face will not affect your piloting skills." EDI interfered.

"Well, great." Joker sighed. "Now my girlfriend is siding with you. Thank you, commander! Thank you very much!"

"Always welcome." Shepard trying not to grin. "Anyway, how have you been?"

"Ah, you know, things were pretty crazy, actually," Joker admitted. "I thought that they would ground me. But turned out there's been so much work after we fixed the Normandy: flying around the Sol system back and forward, transporting supplies to the Charon Relay. Personally tested how long it takes you to fly to the Exodus Cluster and back to Earth without faster-than-light jumps, even. Turned out, way longer than the extranet says."

"It happened because we ran out of fuel and had to drift for several days until one of our probes finally found something which could suffice for fuel extraction." EDI explained.

"But anyway, now we are back in serious business." Joker smiled. "Everyone is on board and we are ready to take off. Setting course to the Citadel."

The ship reeled slightly indicating that they started to exit the dock, but after they finally took off from the ground, even if Shepard could see them moving through the cockpit window, it was nearly impossible to feel anything inside the ship, like they were simply standing in one place.

Joker was a great pilot and the Normandy was a fine ship.

The area around the Charon Relay was surrounded by several other ships. Mostly they were the maintenance vessels checking over the Relay's work. It had been only six months since the majority of the Relays were repaired and the interstellar travel was more or less open again. Nearly every nation participating in the war which could spare resources had made it their priority to fix the Relays as soon as possible as thousands of battleships orbiting around Earth needed to return to their homes, especially with the fact that Earth was getting short on the provision to support everyone. It helped a lot that the Eden Prime was still in a traveling distance and had own fields and cattle to provide food, and the fact that the quarian fleet had own agriculture developed on even some on their battleships, but if the situation with the transportation wouldn't have been managed before the earthen winter, they would have way more problems.

Right now the Relays were working relatively stable. There was still a shortage on the element zero and sometimes they were powering down, so for now, while the expeditions were trying to find unexplored mineral veins, they still had to keep several repairing ships in a close reach of the Mass Relays.

"Pluto Relay is in range, initiating the transition sequence." Joker informed.

"Connection with the relay established. Calculating the transit mass and destination." EDI picked up. "Calculating the approach vector."

It honestly was amusing for the commander how the two of them started to work in a synchrony, considering how much Joker used to hate the AI. Well, they really had made a great progress in the relationship since they met.

"Hitting the Relay in ten… nine…" Joker started the count down. "…three… two … one."

The Relay beam reached to the Normandy and the bright blue light enveloped the ship, pushing it forward. For a second everything turned white and Shepard's body started to feel like it lost its gravitation point and the sense of direction. It was a usual experience of the relay jumps, but Shepard hadn't experienced it for a while so it turned to be little more disorienting then he anticipated.

But the next moment everything returned to normal.

"Ladies and gentlemen… and major Vega," Joker announced cheerfully through the communicators. "Our Mass Relay jump was successful, as usual. Every system is online, proceeding further to our destination."

The clouds around the station were dense and it was difficult to see anything. Shepard leaned closer to the screens trying not to miss the moment he would be able to see the Citadel. Even considering how many times he had been here, Shepard still considered the view from the ship a breathtaking one. Especially now, when he wasn't sure what to expect.

When Shepard heard about the Citadel being nearly fully reconstructed he still imagined it to look somewhat similar to Earth, with only main districts clean and fixed and most of the other parts still being in ruins. In the end the Citadel took the hardest of the hits during the war.

But when the station finally appeared in their view, first a simple outline through the purple clouds of its atmosphere, then in the full splendor, Shepard couldn't believe his eyes. It looked exactly like he remembered it, with all five of its arms glowing in faint web of orange lights. Shepard still could see some black spots there and there, indicating that some of the districts were still in the process of reconstruction, but in general it was really impressive how quick people had managed to rebuild it. But in the end the commander suspected that it was just a human nature, an organic nature to be exact, to stand up back to your feet no matter how many blows you had taken if you still could breathe afterwards.

"Here's an example of persistence…" Joker whistled, "Some impressive work, isn't it?"

"It sure is." Shepard agreed in awe.


	11. Chapter 11

Although if from the space the Citadel looked exactly as Shepard remembered, the general layouts were different. Of course Shepard had never had a chance to visit everywhere, because of how big the Citadel was, he still could see the difference from the first glance. Now the alliance docking bay was way bigger than it used to, even if in general there were less alliance ships docked. It was way less any ships docked around the station.

Shepard had several reasons to come to the Citadel. First of all Liara needed to transport some of her belongings to the ship, so she could continue her work at the same time as helping the commander. But Liara didn't need Shepard's help with that, she could do it herself.

Doctor Chakwas had also sent him the lead on the medic she advised to ask for his team. The hospital she worked at was bigger than Huerta, but slightly further from the presidiums. It really wasn't a problem, considering Shepard could simply hire a taxi cab.

Shepard had also planned on visiting the Council. His SPECTER status was still withheld from him due to the medical conditions, but as soon as the Council found out that the Normandy was arriving they sent a request to Shepard to come to the Tower as soon as he would have a chance. The council members, even after everything Shepard had done for them, even considering they had somehow managed to spear time to visit Shepard's wedding, were never in the list of Shepard's close friends. He had never had anything in particular against them either, but their relationship had never moved from the frame of professional. That is why the commander highly doubted that their wish to see him was anything but a matter of business either. But it was understandable considering their occupation.

Shepard checked the time on his omni-tool. The travel to the Citadel did only take six earthen hours, which was approximately little bit over than four hours in the galactic standard time. It was a little bit over than five hundred minutes right now, a morning not quite so early, but still with most of the day ahead. Plus the commander knew that at this time the Council was the busiest, so he decided to get to the hospital first.

The place Doctor Sonars worked at carried a proud name of Jon Grissom even if Grissom himself hadn't had any affiliations with medical facilities. But from another side he also hadn't had any affiliations with human biotics either and Shepard suspected that it was just one of the things people were doing to not to forget about their heroes. The commander also heard some rumors about someone giving his name to a new-found star system just on the edge of the Milky-Way, but he honestly couldn't say that it was something he was proud of. He always thought that anyone from his squad-members deserved it as much as he did.

Shepard stepped into the facility eyeing the insides of a white glassy interior, which at the same time looked more practical than fancy. It was clean and neat and at the same time it was difficult to even tell that the place was a hospital, as it looked more like a research center which opened with funds of a small business company.

The personnel of the facility were mostly consistent of humans, but there were also several salarian and turian staff members, passing in the main hall dressed in white coats.

"Ugh, hello," Shepard walked to the reception desk greeting a salarian receptionist. "I sent a request earlier today about talking to Doctor Amelia Sonars."

The salarian looked up from his terminal. "Ah, Commander Shepard, I assume. It's a big honor to meet you!" He smiled. "And yes, Doctor Sonars is expecting you in her office. Further down the hallway, door number 24E."

Shepard thanked the salarian proceeding to the office he was directed to.

Doctor Sonars was a young woman, no older than thirty years old. She was wearing one of the medical lab coats on top of a pair of jeans and a thin polo-neck shirt with a small bronze colored pendant hanging from her neck. Her shoulder length chestnut hair was nearly gathered in a ponytail and in general she was having an air of a person who was taking a good care about appearance even while preferring very simple style in clothing.

She turned her head looking at the commander in a way that Shepard started to feel she was appraising him. Then she simply turned back to her terminal starting to read something.

"Excuse me, doctor Sonars." Shepard started. "My name is Shepard, am a commander of…"

"I know who you are," she interrupted drily, "I received your mail."

"So, you know why I am here, then?" Shepard asked even if the question was mostly rhetorical.

"I know." She replied.

Shepard waited several moments for her to say anything else, but the doctor was silent, concentrated on the terminal screen. "So?" He tried tentatively.

"No." She answered.

"No? Just like that?" the commander surprised.

"Just like that." She nodded.

Shepard waited another moment. The stretching silence between them was cold and unpleasant. "Listen, Doctor Sonars. You just pushed me in a terrible situation." Shepard sighed. "I refused the help of several great doctors who wanted to join the Normandy, only because a friend of my advised me to talk to you…"

"And who, I wonder, was this friend of yours?!" She interrupted yet again. A sarcastic smile appeared on her face.

"Ugh, Doctor Chakwas..." Shepard replied raising his eyebrow.

The cold sarcastic smile disappeared from the woman's face, turning into surprise and something Shepard could read as shame. "Oh…" She exhaled. "I thought… never mind." She shook her head looking at Shepard appraisingly again, "I… I'm sorry to turn you down, commander, but I really can't go with you." She sighed finally.

"Can't?" Shepard surprised. "There must be a good reason for it."

"Oh, there is." The doctor smirked. "But it doesn't really matter. So please, leave me be and find someone else."

Shepard reached for the back of his head to scratch it. He was utterly confused by the doctor's words and it didn't look like she was going to give it up. The weirdest in the situation was the fact that the Doctor Sonar's cold attitude was aimed on him, like she had something against him personally. And Shepard was pretty sure that he had never met her before for this situation to happen.

"Doctor Sonars," he started again, "I would like to ask you to reconsider. I really trust Doctor Chakwas' opinion and if you at least as half as good as she described, I want you to be a part of my crew. I need you to be a part of my crew."

"Huh, next you will tell that humanity needs me?" She laughed.

"Well, that was the plan." Shepard smiled.

The doctor looked at the commander amused. Well, it was somewhat of a start. "You're an interesting person, commander." She chuckled lowering her gaze. "I can see why… I can see why everyone likes you so much. But it is still a 'no'."

"Doctor Sonars. I'm really out of moves here. So I will just leave this data-pad with every bit of unclassified information about the Normandy and the list of medical specialist's duties on the ship." He proposed. "And if you will have a moment to take a look at, just spare a glance, please do so."

With those words Shepard placed a data-pad on the table infront of the doctor and turned to leave the office. On the corner of his eyes he saw her reaching curiously for the device. Maybe it wasn't a lost case in the end.

~ooo~

Shepard was about to head to the Citadel Tower when he was ambushed by two C-Sec officers. They surrounded him from both sides keeping their hands behind their backs. Both of them were turians.

"Commander Sheppard?" inquired one of them.

"Yes, is there a problem, officers?" Shepard raised his eyebrow.

"No, sir, we were sent here to accompany you to the C-Sec academy." The turian shook his head.

"Sent by whom?" Shepard asked.

"We were asked not to inform you, sir."

Shepard eyed the two turians with distrust. He wondered for a moment who could want to see him in the C-Sec. There were several people he knew there, Captain Bailey for example. But the captain would surely simply send Shepard a mail asking to come by, instead of sending two armed guards. Shepard also helped out Executor Pallin a few times, but he highly doubted that Pallin would go to this extremes.

"All right." He finally nodded, knowing that he had nothing to lose as the C-Sec officers wouldn't likely to do any harm to him.

The turians escorted him to the academy offices, but instead of leading him further into the facility, they stopped before a small side street about only two or three hundred feet away from the main office.

"We were asked to inform you that you are waited in there." The officer who talked to Shepard before informed with a sigh. It seemed to Shepard that the turian didn't like the idea either.

Shepard looked at the side street. It was dark and a somewhat creepy, with a faint smell of dump dirty water which was specific for sewers. If Shepard was to walk there and it would turn to be a trap, he would be a goner for sure.

Shepard looked around not seeing anyone else in the sight. It really could turn bad, and the turians could even not be actual security officers, but disguised mercenaries. Still, Shepard didn't have enough evidences to pull a gun on them. Plus he highly suspected that with his current condition he wouldn't be able to fight both of them if they were to attack.

In any way the commander found himself in a situation which could turn really bad. At least if he would be able to lose the two turians, he would have a chance to send a distress call to the Normandy. So Shepard nodded and started to walk forward.

The two turian officers didn't seem to follow. Still it didn't mean he could relax. Shepard reached for his side taking the gun into his hand and activating his omni-tool at the same time, sending a signal with his current location to the ship .

Right now it was very logical to simply stop and wait here, in the middle of the main terrace leading to the C-Sec and the side street with whatever it was waiting for him ahead, until anyone would come to find him, or at least to buy some time. But the curiosity and the fact how uncomfortable it was for Shepard to fully rely on other people decided for him, so he moved forward, holding his pistol ready.

The narrow side street turned into a bigger opening which seemed even darker. There was some steam coming from a pipe attached to the wall, which Shepard not so much saw as felt on his skin. On the corner of his mind Shepard started to think why someone in a right mind would ambush him so close to the facility of the Citadel security, why a place like this would even exist so close to this facility, but from another side no-one would suspect the criminals to be that bold.

The first thing the commander saw was a large humanoid shadow standing in the very corner of the room. He pointed his gun at the shadow, preparing for a fight. The figure moved and the second thing he noticed was a single blue light coming from the direction of this shadow from the place where the figure should have had a face. A single, blue rectangular light source.

"Really?" Shepard huffed lowering his gun.

"And whom else did you expect to see here?" he heard a familiar turian voice.

"Oh, I don't know, the list of people who want to see me dead is just that small," Shepard remarked sarcastically, clipping his pistol back to the side and stepping closer to the figure. "Although, I've never suspected you to be on it, Garrus" He then added with a smile.

"Shepard." The turian chuckled. "I would go for a hug, but you know, a dark lonesome place… I just afraid it would look like something else entirely."

"And I would tell that it's great to see you," Shepard commented looking around the place, "But I can't see a thing."

"I know." Garrus confirmed. "But it was needed. Sorry about this all conspiracy, I really needed to get to you without anyone on the Citadel knowing."

"And that is why you asked the C-Sec guards to bring me here?"

"They are friends. I know them for a very long time and know that I can trust them. It was the only way." The turian explained.

"What is going on, Garrus?" Shepard inquired.

"I can't really tell you anything right now. Someone still might listen. But something bad is going on. Something nasty." The turian sighed. "Shepard… I need you to ask to allow me the access to the Normandy. I can sneak in, you will come and talk to me later and I'll explain everything."

"That is not a problem, Garrus," Shepard nodded. "You're always welcome on my ship."

The commander activated the omni-tool, flashing his friend's face with the soft orange glow. He couldn't really tell that this light was enough to see Garrus fully, but now Shepard could see his expression was more than worried. Shepard forwarded the pass to the ship to Garrus.

"Thank you, Shepard." The turian nodded. "I will be on the ship in at least an hour – will have to take several longer routs. And it would be good if you appear even later. But please, we need to talk _before_ you meet the Council."

Shepard blinked. He had no idea what was going on and wasn't going to find it out until later. But it looked like his simple mission was now on hold by unexpected detours.


End file.
